In November, the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust unveiled the winners of its 2023 Building Beauty Awards, sponsored by Ballymore, at a glittering ceremony in the amphitheatre at Sea Containers House, which offers striking views of St Paul’s and the London skyline. Prizes were presented by Sir Ben Okri, the Booker Prize-winning magic realist author, while the judging panel was led by Stephen Bayley Hon FRIBA, Chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust and one of Britain’s foremost design critics.
Bayside Worthing, designed by Allies & Morrison for Roffey Homes, took home the overall prize of £12,000 – the richest prize in UK architecture – while also winning the Building Award. The mixed tenure housing development, which comprises a 170ft as well as a six-storey garden square and a beachside café, will now also represent the UK in the race to be crowned the world’s most beautiful new building at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore.
Woolbeding Glasshouse, designed by Heatherwick Studio for the Woolbeding Charity in collaboration with Eckersley O’Callaghan, who worked on the structural and façade engineering, won the Engineering Award, with Elephant Park, a public realm project by Gillespies for Lendlease, winning the Public Space Award. The Little Gem Award title went to the Plas Glyn-y-Weddw Café, designed by Sanderson Sculpture, Mark Wray Architects and Fold for Plas Glyn-y-Weddw.
The event was a comprehensive success, with news of the Building Beauty Awards winners being featured in titles including the Mail Online, The Independent, Architects’ Journal, and ITV News, to name but a few. The Communication Group plc supported on all aspects of the event, from planning and venue sourcing to logistics on the night.
