‘Tranquil’ children’s home retrofit wins Stephen Lawrence Prize 2023

The practice took home the award for its ‘highly intelligent’ transformation of a 1920s suburban home in Sutton into a space for the Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust, which provides care for children aged 12 and above.

For the first time in the award’s 25-year history, the Stephen Lawrence Prize now only recognises projects led by an early-career project architect. This was defined by the RIBA as ‘typically someone who has qualified within five years prior to the project’s completion date’.

Announcing the winner, the judges praised the home’s flexible layout and shared living spaces as well as consideration of the soundscape, which they said avoided feelings of entrapment. The building was also described as ‘therapeutic’ and secure.  

Matthew Goldschmied, jury chair and managing trustee at the Marco Goldschmied Foundation said: ‘The Lighthouse Children’s Home demonstrates the therapeutic potential of thoughtfully designed environments.

‘Aesthetic coherence unites the spaces here, setting the scene for stories of hope to unfold. The young lives this building touches will undoubtedly be supported by its comfort and restorative power.’

RIBA president Muyiwa Oki said the home’s design was ‘highly intelligent and considered’ given the complexity of the brief to create a medium- to long-term home for six young people.

Oki said: ‘Conrad Koslowsky Architects and Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust are to be commended for their close collaboration, holistic approach and the exceptional results that have been delivered as a result.’

The shortlist for the new-look 2023 prize included James Alder, 35, founder of James Alder Architects for an ‘exquisite’ extension to a north London home; AJ 40 under 40 star Astrid Smitham, 39, of Apparata for the practice’s flexible live/work space for artists in Barking; and Lianne Clark, 32, who worked on Hollaway Studio’s multistorey skatepark in Folkestone.

Previously, the annual prize was awarded to the nation’s best small-scale projects with a construction budget of less than £1 million. It was won last year by Surman Weston’s food school in Hackney, east London.

The Stephen Lawrence Prize is awarded for any project with a construction budget of under £1 million, and was established in 1998 in memory of Stephen Lawrence, a teenager and aspiring architect murdered in a racist attack in Eltham in 1993.

This year’s jury also included architecture student, Adefunmilayo Adebi, who joined on behalf of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, and will go on to receive mentoring from the winning project architect.  

The winner of was announced as part of the Stirling Prize ceremony at the Victoria Warehouse, Manchester (Thursday 19 October). Previous winners include Mole Architects, Níall McLaughlin Architects, Denizen Works and Duggan Morris Architects.