RIBA unveils third round of House of the Year shortlisted candidates

In an update to the first two rounds of its House of the Year shortlist candidates, the Royal Institute of British Architects has released two of its final three projects which will now vie for the top spot when the award is announced in January.

The latest round includes projects in South Devon and the Scotland Highlands.

Mary-Arnold Forster Architects’ House in Assynt offers incredible views of the surrounding landscape situated in a hard-to-find locale and defined by a minimalist exterior and light-filled customizable living spaces.

Its counterpart is already a three-time RIBA award winner. A formerly abandoned stone cattle housing structure, The Outfarm is TYPE Studio’s realization of their private client’s dream to adaptively reuse the 211-year-old barn they themselves discovered and worked to obtain the rights to rehabilitate.

The former threshing floor has been converted into an adaptable mezzanine above the ground level, which was given a timber floor and cellular living and workspaces in addition to a new aluminum lined roof all while maintaining the existing stone shell that gave the structure its agrarian characteristics originally. 

Both will enter a competitive field with one last additional nominee to be named next week as part of BBC Channel 4’s  Grand Designs: House of the Year (Problem Solving Houses) series.