2017

Best Homepage

Winner – Gillespies

Website by Ten4

Judges said the winning homepage ticked all the boxes because it gives a “clear and consistent message on the scale of the studio and its area of expertise is well delivered, balanced and user friendly”.

Best Use of Technology

Winner – David Miller Architects

Judges said the winner shows “excellent BIM representation of projects with animations, sections and elevations of buildings. The technology used enhances the user’s experience and it is very simple to navigate with a clean layout".

Best Use of Video

Winner – Witherford Watson Mann

Film by Intrepid Cinema

Judges described the winning film as “absolutely gripping” saying it was “moving and full of humanity that led them to want to find out more about the community and buildings. While the architects are background characters, their compassion is quietly driven home. This felt like something genuinely informative and potentially enduringly useful for the sector”, they said.

Best Use of Innovation

Winner – Ackroyd Lowrie

Judges said the winners showed a “creative and practical use of a technology that is often relegated to a simple marketing gimmick. Being the first architectural practice to implement VR sign off on every project they undertake is a great claim to make and it feels like the future.”

Best Use of Social Media

Winner – Mae

The judges said the winner’s approach to social media “demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of what social media is for, and crucially, what it is not for. In other words, it’s not an add-on, afterthought or a cynical marketing tool”. The winner felt “authentic” and shows a genuine appreciation for social media’s capacity to foster connections between people and ideas”.

Best Visual Design

Winner – Sarah Wigglesworth Architects

Runner-up – IF_DO

Design by Burgess & Beech 

The judges said the winner’s website “showcases beautiful images through storytelling and intuitive navigation and guides the user seamlessly through projects, processes and people and is great on all devices.” This was the most hotly contested category so it was decided to award a runner-up, praised by judges for its” engaging imagery and confident use of use of colours and type”.

Best Use of Digital Imagery

IF_DO with Forbes Massie

About the winner the judges said these are “renderings with their own character that are not trying to be photographs but rather closer to an artistic impression of the intention of the project”. They described the imagery as “sophisticated but subtle and with lots of variety”.

Best Written Content

Winner – Archio

The winner was praised for their commitment to the studio blog which “came across and lively and interesting so they felt they were in good hands”. “The project descriptions, especially those that convey a sense of a site’s history and backstory, were “impressive” and the introduction to the practice is “punchy and direct.”

Best Overall

Winner – David Miller Architects

The judges said the winner’s website is “clean, cool and comprehensive” while the use of 3D BIM models on all projects “perfectly demonstrates the approach that this practice takes to design. This is a very well organised, concisely designed site with an impressive breadth of information with a nice balance of people and buildings throughout”.