Façade Of The Year Awards 2017, SFE Architecture Design Prize, Buildings

Façade Of The Year Awards

FAÇADE2017 Awards Information: SFE Prize – Competition Winners

11 + 10 Jan 2018

2017 SFE FAÇADE Competition

Society of Façade Engineering Awards – 2017 SFE Competition

SOCIETY OF FAÇADE ENGINEERING NAMES WINNERS OF ITS 2017 COMPETITION

Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert and The Berkeley give London Façade Projects a Clean Sweep

Despite the largest number of international entries ever received in the SFE’s annual competition – FAÇADE2017 which is held annually to identify the most outstanding and innovative architectural façade projects – the three winners of the 2017 competition are all London based.

Victoria and Albert Museum building roof:

photograph © Hufton+Crow

Finalists gathered from around the Globe to learn if they had triumphed in this year’s competition, with a win widely regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades to be had within the discipline of façades. Winners were kept a close secret until the recent ‘Glass Supper’ gathering of façades-focused architects and engineers, at which presentations were made by the Head of the Judging Panel for the Society of Façade Engineering, Saverio Pasetto Msc FSFE.

Three categories were awarded with the UK division of Danish-based consultancy Ramboll winning the Façade Of The Year New Build section for the Blavatnik Building, Switchhouse Extension of the Tate Modern. Octacube won the Refurbishment category of the Façade of the Year for the new entrance at the Victoria & Albert Museum located in Exhibition Road, West London whilst the Outstanding Façade Innovation Award was given jointly to Catalunya-based façade specialist Bellapart and Arup Façade Engineering for their work on the new entrance for the Berkeley Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge. This is the second year in which the Bellapart and Arup partnership has produced a winning entry.

Tate Modern London building facade:

photograph © Daniel Shearing

In addition, FKN Group received a Special Commendation for its work on the Axel Towers landmark project in Copenhagen.

Speaking for the SFE Saverio Pasetto said of the winners: “The purpose of the FAÇADE series of competitions organised by the SFE is to recognise and reward excellence in façade design and engineering and thereby to draw attention to the importance of façades in modern architecture. Each of our winners this year have succeeded admirably in achieving that with facades that are quite diverse but equally remarkable.”

Berkeley Hotel London building facade:

image courtesy of architects

The international FAÇADE competition was begun in 2013 by the Society of Façade Engineering to promote the importance of this increasingly important element of architecture. Since then winners have included projects from around the world that vary considerably in location, application, size and style.

Justin Hunter, managing director of headline sponsors of the event Reynaers Ltd, says that the SFE FAÇADE competition has rightly achieved great respect in the world of façades: “The international reach of this event is spreading with entries from all corners of the globe and more importantly it is achieving its key objective of promoting the importance of façades in not only defining the appearance of a building but also its function and performance. Winning the competition has become very desirable amongst façade specialists.”

Sponsors also included: E H Smith Specialist Façades; Holloseal Glass; Interface Façade Engineering; Century Façades; Allies and Morrison; Wintech; Wedge Group; and Skanska.

Tate Modern Extension Building

Victoria & Albert Museum London Building

Winners of the 2017 SFE FAÇADE Competition are (clockwise from top left): Façade of the Year New Build Ramboll, for the Blavatnik Building, Switchhouse Extension of the Tate Modern (Photo: Daniel Shearing); Façade of the Year Refurbishment Octacube for the new entrance at the Victoria & Albert Museum (Photo: Hufton+Crow); Outstanding Façade Innovation Award Bellapart and Arup Façade Engineering for the new entrance for the Berkeley Hotel.

About The Society of Façade Engineering
The Society of Façade Engineering was formed in 2004 as a joint initiative of CIBSE, IStructE and the RIBA. It is governed by a Council drawn from among its members and administered by CIBSE. The Society provides a forum in which architects, façade engineers, building services engineers, structural engineers and contractors can work together to advance knowledge and practice in façade engineering, promote good practice and ensure that today’s increasingly complex building façades meet the many and varying performance criteria. In particular, it addresses the complex issues in building physics of thermal insulation, ventilation, lighting, solar control, and acoustics.

Façade Of The Year Awards: SFE Prize 2017 image / information received 090118

Location:Buckingham Gate, London