Stormy Castle by Loyn and Co Architects

RIBA's Manser Medal is bestowed for originality, quality and innovation. Caroline Roux reviews the shortlist

We’ve surely become immune to the words “luxury, exclusive, desirable” when applied to current housing developments, plastered as they are across hoardings and advertisements for new city centre apartment blocks and the high-end gated communities that hover around the country’s wealthier towns. But once a year, the Manser Medal, awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects, serves as a reminder of what really is exclusive and desirable in a home. And it’s not seven bathrooms for six bedrooms, a residents-only gym, or a 24-hour concierge.

The Manser Medal is given for originality, quality and imagination, rather than the scale of a project’s social aspiration. Previous winners have included Oxley Woods, a development of innovative lower-cost prefabricated housing in Milton Keynes by Rogers, Stirk + Harbour. But more often than not, the shortlist focuses on bespoke houses – large and small – that come about when an architect with a good idea gets to work with a particularly courageous client.....Continue Reading

> via The Telegraph