These home renovations were shortlisted for a top architecture award

15 of London's best home renovations, championed in the annual Don't Move, Improve! architecture award 2023, serve plenty of inspiration for anyone considering their own home improvements.

Now in its 12th year, the award is run by New London Architecture, showcasing the diversity and character of the properties being redesigned in London.

The homes in the shortlist embraced the 'Green Ambitions' theme, with a focus on improving the sustainable credentials of the city's homes. There's also a nod to the importance of our spaces supporting our wellbeing, with an emphasis on promoting better access to surrounding nature, more daylight, mood-enhancing colours and maximising space for compact living.

From the shortlist of 15, there are eight winners, whose projects particularly impressed the judges. See the results below.

Winners:

• The Don't Move, Improve! Home of the Year 2023: The Secret Garden Flat by Nic Howett Architect
• Under £100k Prize: Colour Casing by District. Architects
• Environmental Leadership Prize: Low Energy House by Architecture for London
• Urban Oasis Prize: Kitchen in the Woods by A Small Studio
  
• Compact Design of the Year Prize: Lubetkin Apartment by Studio naama
• Unique Character Prize: CLT House by Unknown Works
• Transformations Prize: Elizabeth Mews by Trewhela Williams
• Materiality and Craftsmanship Prize: Brückenhaus by R2 Studio Architects
  

Take a look at the shortlisted and winning projects in more detail...

Location: Southwark

Designed by: Nic Howett Architect

Award: Home of the Year 2023

Built by the homeowner and his partner, the aim of this project was to extend the home on a budget to provide more space for their family. Located behind a shop in a Victorian terrace on Camberwell Road, this small flat has been transformed with a new bedroom and a garden studio that allows them to both work from home whilst sheltered by surrounding trees. It's self-built, with a palette of simple, modest materials that they could craft with their own hands.

Location: Southwark

Designed by: District. Architects

Award: Under £100k Prize

Colour blocking is used to define each area of this wrap around extension and renovation. Described by the homeowner as 'practical', 'beautiful' and a 'joyful place to live', its modern touches and bold colour palette make this a home that will grow with the family.

Location: Haringey

Designed by: Architecture for London

Award: Environmental Leadership Prize

An Edwardian terrace in Muswell Hill has been extended and refurbished to create a comfortable, low energy house. A rear extension and a loft conversion, with installation, triple-glazing and improved airtightness, have helped to reduce this property's energy requirements. It's a fine example of what can be done to improve an ordinary terrace house on a small budget, both in regards to low energy features and aesthetics.

Location: Southwark

Designed by: A Small Studio

Award: Urban Oasis Prize

This modernist house sits in a small oasis of protected woodland within the Dulwich Estate, a conservation area in south London. The family were in need of a fourth bedroom but unable to build upwards due to restrictions on the land. To ensure there was as little ecological impact as possible, the studio relocated the kitchen to the rear of the house, opening it up to the woods while ensuring there was minimal distribution to the wildlife in the garden, including foxes, squirrels, birds, and bats. This allowed the studio to then add a fourth bedroom and ensuite to what was previously the kitchen area towards the front of the property.

Location: Tower Hamlets

Designed by: Studio naama

Award: Compact Design of the Year Prize

Located in Berthold Lubetkin’s Grade II listed Sivill House, this apartment's renovation introduced bicycle storage, a training area, a study, a second bedroom and a casual eating space. Celebrating the identity of the building, areas were stripped back to reveal original concrete beams, and bespoke metalwork was created to add warmth and colour, with panels used to open up the living room and bedroom space and to allow light to flow throughout the apartment.

Location: Waltham Forest

Designed by: Unknown Works

Award: Unique Character Prize

A bright and bold sustainable new home, designed for a young family, uses pre fabricated, cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction. It boasts a warm, natural finished timber on the inside, and a bright sunshine-yellow exterior, adding a pop of colour to the mid-century terrace.

Location: Camden

Designed by: Trewhela Williams

Award: Transformations Prize

This project is a garage conversion and ground floor refurbishment of a courtyard house on a cobbled mews within the Belsize Park Conservation Area. The minimalist design creates a calm, contemplative interior, whilst the tonal and textural elements bring a sense of oneness to the space. What was once an unused garage is now a dual-aspect open-plan kitchen with a dining area and small snug, spanning the depth of the property from street to courtyard.

Location: Southwark

Designed by: R2 Studio Architects

Award: Materiality and Craftsmanship Prize

This renovation channels contemporary living through an artist’s lens, inspired by the owner’s enthusiasm for early 20th century expressionist art group, Die Brücke. The rebuilt rear wing created a first floor wellness zone, with a private roof terrace, sauna and outdoor shower.

Location: Camden

Designed by: Cooke Fawcett Ltd

Drawing on the traditional elements of a Russian ‘Banya’, this renovation features a sauna, bucket shower, plunge pool and a garden studio. The feeling of being embedded in the woodland was central to the design, as it sits on a sloping site surrounded by mature trees.

Location: Waltham Forest

Designed by: Mike Tuck Studio Ltd

This Victorian terraced house has been transformed into a light-filled, breathable space, shaped by natural materials. What was once a pebble dashed, damp home has been renovated with a thermal upgrade, featuring solid blocks of external cork insulation and natural materials that allow the once damp walls to breathe.

Location: Islington

Designed by: Studio Hallett Ike

This is a light and airy transformation for a previously enclosed ground floor apartment. With a focus on high-quality materials, functionality and creating a sense of space, this clean, minimalist design is said to have increased the quality of life and liveability of space for the homeowners.

Location: Hackney

Designed by: Office S&M

An Edwardian home with an Art Deco twist, this space uses shapes to connect and bright colours to transform. Colour is cleverly used throughout the home to highlight the old and new. A minty green tone emphasises the new-built elements on the ground floor, while the existing walls have been restored and the pink plaster has been left bare, nodding to the house's past, as well as bringing warmth and softness to the space.

Location: Islington

Designed by: ATELIER BAULIER

What was once a small, one-bedroom flat has been transformed into a bright and airy space, with an open-plan kitchen and living space extension that leads seamlessly to the garden. The aim was to create a place for gatherings and the celebration of everyday life. A space that can change and grow with the homeowners as their lives change, too. Despite its openness and abundance of natural light, there's a warmth and softness thanks to the natural woods, brick walls and muted interior scheme.

Location: Lambeth

Designed by: nimtim architects

The vision for this project was to transform this two-storey garden flat in a Victorian building, within the Minet Estate Conservation Area in Stockwell, into a sanctuary from the city. With a focus on bringing daylight in and textured natural materials, it offers framed views of the garden which were central to the design.

Location: Lambeth

Designed by: Pashenko Works

This renovation and extension on a 130-year-old Victorian house brings a sense of calm and serenity to a previously small, damp space. The owners describe it as a 'calm and comforting backdrop for our busy hectic lives'. The new glass door office offers the perfect work-from-home set-up, while the open-plan kitchen and living area leads out to a vegetable garden. Design decisions were based on environmental considerations and cost effectiveness. The exposed blockwork throughout provides a large thermal mass to the building, ensuring the property stays cool in summer, while underfloor heating allows for efficient low-temperature heating.

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