Hackney School of Food by Surman Weston wins 2022 Stephen Lawrence Prize

The transformation of a derelict London building into a thriving community hub that teaches children how to grow, cook, and enjoy food has been awarded this year's Stephen Lawrence Prize. 

Announced yesterday by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in conjunction with the grand reveal of the 2022 Stirling Prize winner for the UK's best new building, the annual award recognizes standout architectural projects with a construction budget of less than £1 million.

Measuring only 59 square meters (635 square feet) inside, the new Hackney School of Food facility now welcomes its young visitors also with a repurposed outdoor area, including a vegetable garden, greenhouses, and spaces for outdoor food preparation. 

The inspiring adaptive reuse scheme designed by London-based architects Surman Weston joins recent prize winners The Water Tower, Old Shed New House, The Houseboat, and House of Trace.

"Due to limited space and budget, Surman Weston looked to retrofit the existing building to realize the client’s vision," explains the RIBA's project description. "Whilst externally, the house appears unchanged, inside, it is transformed by the removal of the first floor to create an impressive double-height space. Outside, the derelict gardens have been overhauled to provide vegetable patches, greenhouses, and outdoor cooking and eating spaces, forming part of the welcoming oasis for children to learn all about food."

"The success of the Hackney School of Food is not limited to this one site," remarked Matthew Goldschmied, Prize Chair and Co-Trustee of the Marco Goldschmied Foundation. "The architect and client have developed an inspirational blueprint to teach others how to regenerate and enliven their own communities in a similar way. This bold and inventive investment exemplifies the power of architecture to transform not only the building it touches but the community it serves."

Joining Goldschmied on this year's judging panel were Doreen Lawrence, the mother of aspiring young architect Stephen Lawrence whose life the prize memorializes, and the winner of the 2021 trophy and Director at Tonkin Liu, Mike Tonkin.