A playful London home renovation wins NLA's Don't Move, Improve! 2022 competition

New London Architecture has announced the winner of this year’s Don’t Move, Improve! design competition.

Archmongers’ Little Brownings project was named the Home of the Year out of a 15-entry shortlist that included designs from Turner Architects, Proctor & Shaw, and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. Five special prize winners were awarded as well. 

This year’s overall winner entailed the refurbishment of a three-story terraced house from the 1960s located on the Dulwich Estate in South London’s Forest Hill neighborhood. The jury praised the project for demonstrating an “exceptional attention to detail and high quality of design, whilst also retaining a sense of liveability, warmth, and character throughout.”

The jury added: “The contemporary design simultaneously demonstrates a consideration for the practical use of the space, and the overall concept and materials used showcase the architect’s approach to sustainability and placemaking.”

Archmongers’ design was joined by DGN Studio’s Concrete Plinth House, Hackney, which won the Materiality and Craftsmanship Prize; Fraher & Findlay’s Non-Boxy Lofty, Lewisham, which won the Compact Design Prize; AOC Architecture’s Forest House, Waltham Forest, the Unique Character Prize winner; RUFFARCHITECTS’ Church Road, Haringey, which won the Urban Oasis prize, and the Slot House, Enfield by Ashton Porter Architect’s, which won the Transformation Prize.

“This home delighted me from start to finish,” juror Kunle Barker said of Little Brownings’ end result. “A beautiful space with a level of detailing that surpassed my expectations. Everything in the house has a reason for existing, some things are playful, others beautiful or functional, but they all make you happy."