The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has named The Water Tower by Tonkin Liu as the winner of the Stephen Lawrence Prize 2021.
Originally an industrial steel water tower, the building has been reinvented and restored to create a unique rural family home. The landmark masterfully retains much of the original metal structure; inside a spiral timber staircase and lift lead to the original water tank, which has become a cantilevered, open-plan living space. It has adaptable interiors, including seating that can be moved around the main tank room.
The Water Tower is an ingenious eco-build that accommodates its natural setting, utilising its roof terrace and room placements to overlook and appreciate the surrounding Norfolk countryside.
The Prize was established in 1998 in memory of Stephen Lawrence, a teenager who was on his way to becoming an architect when he was tragically murdered in 1993. Supported and founded by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, the Prize aims to encourage new architectural talent, celebrating and rewarding projects with a construction budget of less than £1 million. The winner is provided with a £5,000 bursary.
Marco Goldschmied said:
“The Water Tower demonstrates how buildings can be saved and enlivened through expert retrofitting, high-quality craftsmanship and faultless attention to detail. The jury unanimously commend Tonkin Liu – the worthy recipient of the 22nd Stephen Lawrence Prize – and their ambitious client for their creativity and dedication. With the positive support and involvement of the local community they have breathed new life into this historic rural structure to create a truly unique family home.
As we have done on three previous occasions we would also like to give a special mention and £1,000 award to Floating Church by Denizen Works, a multi-purpose church and community facility that sits upon a London narrowboat.”
The judges of the 2021 Stephen Lawrence Prize were: Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon Doreen Lawrence OBE; Past RIBA President and Founder of the Marco Goldschmied Foundation Marco Goldschmied; Founder of Mary Duggan Architects Mary Duggan; and winner of the 2019 Stephen Lawrence Prize and Director at CSK Architects Dido Milne.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Media contact: Emily.Stallard@riba.org, 020 7307 3813.
- Images and citations can be downloaded here.
- The Water Tower citation by Visiting Jury Chair Mary Duggan: “The challenge to convert a disused historic Water Tower into accommodation has been handled effortlessly, completely avoiding pretentious reinterpretation or cliché. Standing tall within a setting of fields of Barley, the Water Tower, whilst extensively refurbished, has retained a strong and honest agricultural aesthetic. In heritage terms, its status as one in a sequence of historic ruins within Castle Acre is not impacted, and in this particular case, the familiar unobstructed stilted silhouette figure. Purchased for the equivalent value of scrap metal, a strong attitude towards reuse has been tirelessly pursued, with all materials already within the existing structure carefully reconfigured or relocated to formulate a new domestic programme, and with all necessary new materials hoisted carefully through the retained externalised braced structure. The entire structure has been ingeniously (re)engineered to account for the absent weight of water and the additional distribution of new accommodation loads. The existing water tank is cut laterally to create a 360 panoramic window aligned with the visible horizon. This forms an elevated living space in which the original water equilibrium devices remain suspended. Larger interventions include a CLT cantilevered stairs serving as a compression spiral to stabilise the adapted structure and to also function as a passive stack ventilation chamber. Whilst highly technical in description, it is very graceful. The tower is infilled with a series of accommodation floors also in CLT and window units used in optimised dimensions, with each floor containing a mezzanine bed bunk. The appearance of the original stilted silhouette is achieved by the inclusion of an enclosed bridge link between the stair and stacked floors. With nowhere to hide in this amazing setting, the structure is both brave and frugal, a gentle giant. Not only is the architectural salvage an excellent example of a new emerging construction methodology, the design also intelligently fuses both low carbon measures and structural engineering. The overriding feeling is one with very happy ending; a fairy-tale in which the Tower magically re-builds itself.”
- Previous winners of the Stephen Lawrence Prize include Cork House by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton (2019); Old Shed New House by Tonkin Liu Architects (2018); The Houseboat by Mole Architects (2017); House of Trace by Tsuruta Architects (2016); The Fishing Hut by Niall McLaughlin Architects (2015); House No 7 by Denizen Works (2014); Montpelier Community Nursery by AY Architects (2013); and Kings Grove by Duggan Morris Architects (2012).
- The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. Follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates.
