海角视频

Andrew Best, a Partner based in 海角视频鈥檚 London office, talks about being an invited judge for the forthcoming 2019 World Architecture News (WAN) Awards.

This is the tenth year of the WAN Awards. How did you first get involved?

For a long time I was a judge for Product of the Year. That would be things ranging from weird acoustic doors and new lifts through to bits of computer software. Quite a broad category. The WAN people then had a series of awards identifying 21 upcoming architectural practices that would make a difference in the 21^st century. That was called 21 for 21, which started in 2011 and ran for five years.

You were a judge for that?

Not for the first one, but I did every year after that. I remember one year a fellow judge was Patrik Schumacher, who is now the number one designer at Zaha Hadid. Another was Martha Thorne, who鈥檚 the executive director of the Pritzker Prize [hugely prestigious architecture award]. Actually, that was slightly embarrassing.

What happened?

The entries had been shortlisted from 150 down to 50, which we were judging as a group. Martha Thorne said to the editor of WAN, 鈥淗ow did you do the shortlisting?鈥� He replied, 鈥淲ell, Andrew did it.鈥� She looked at me in a slightly startled manner, like, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e a bloody engineer!鈥� Then, not very long into the judging, she鈥檚, like, 鈥淵eah, fine. You know what you鈥檙e talking about鈥�. After 21 for 21 finished there was a bit of a gap when I didn鈥檛 do anything, but I鈥檓 back in now. I was a judge for the Rising Star Award in 2018 and I鈥檓 hoping to do that one again this year.

What are you looking for in a winning project?

It鈥檚 never a winning project 鈥� it鈥檚 a winning practice with a body of work that appears to be doing something original and showing a breadth of thinking. For example, there was one practice that we didn鈥檛 progress last year that was doing beautiful, beautiful apartments. But all they did was beautiful, beautiful apartments. Is that a rising star? Are they ever going to move on and bring new things into the architectural discourse? Whereas there was another practice that had created a few little pavilions for one of the big US institutions. What they鈥檇 done was weird and very low budget but really interesting with a very creative use of materials. I thought, 鈥淲ow! Given a proper budget these guys could go far.鈥� They got through the shortlisting stage.

Who picked up 2018鈥檚 Rising Star Award?

Haptic [small architectural practice based in London and Oslo] won last year. They had an impressive range of work at different scales 鈥� quite big projects along with some small, perfectly detailed stuff.

In the process of taking a project from drawing board to realisation, what are the biggest challenges to design excellence?

There鈥檚 always a challenge around value, in trying to design something that is interesting and striking and meets the client鈥檚 brief but also doesn鈥檛 waste money. Interestingly, the Dutch have a habit 鈥� a reputation, almost 鈥� as a nation of architects who are good at that. They鈥檒l make a statement with a particular bit of a building 鈥� so it鈥檒l have this amazing facade or an extraordinary cantilever or whatever it is 鈥� and then everything else is extremely cost-effective and quite pared back. They reign themselves in on most of it but then just go for the big statement.

So some kind of compromise is inevitable?

Yes, exactly. If you鈥檙e clear on the architectural driver 鈥� what鈥檚 the really important piece of this design 鈥� then it becomes easier to compromise because you know the crucial bit that you need to keep.

Have you ever won any awards?

I鈥檓 trying to remember but nothing springs to mind. I鈥檓 flying under the radar! I have a funny feeling that we might have won a structural steel award for the Body Zone back in the Millennium Dome days.

What happened to all those bits and pieces from the Body Zone?

Oh, it all just got trashed. There are three projects that are most impactful in my timeline at 海角视频: within the Millennium Dome I did a series of exhibition zones that have been demolished; I did the water polo venue for the 2012 Olympics, which has been demolished; and now I鈥檓 doing Stratford Waterfront, which hasn鈥檛 yet been built. But, you know, otherwise it鈥檚 great! Stratford Waterfront will be a lasting legacy. As the project principal, I鈥檝e been doing that all but exclusively for the last four years. They鈥檝e recently got planning consent and they鈥檙e digging holes on site so there鈥檚 actual real-life progress, which is very exciting.

How does being a judge for the WAN Awards help you as a designer?

At the simplest level, you can鈥檛 help but be inspired by interesting new projects and fresh architecture. Some of them you end up collaborating with, but the business development aspect of it isn鈥檛 the driver. Being exposed to innovative thinking is what鈥檚 really good about it.