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MacEwen Award 2025: The winning schemes

Words:
John Jervis

The MacEwen Award celebrates projects that demonstrate a mutual willingness of architect and client to push at the edges of what a typology can be

Severn View Park Care Home, Caldicot, by Pentan Architects, the winner of this year’s MacEwen Award.
Severn View Park Care Home, Caldicot, by Pentan Architects, the winner of this year’s MacEwen Award. Credit: Fotohaus

There’s a strong argument that almost all architecture aspires to work for the common good, from hospitals and housing to prisons and power stations, making dramatic impacts on society in the process. So what is it that differentiates the projects that the MacEwen Award has been spotlighting over its 10 years?

Almost invariably, the key component is a mutual willingness of architect and client to push at the edges of what a typology can be, what it can do. Whether it’s a temporary structure on a village green or a new wing for a major institution, immediate briefs are fulfilled in pioneering ways, but projects also spill over into communities, finding synergies and sympathies that multiply their value. In doing so, they evolve their typology, offering a pointer for future development, while inspiring others in the field, and often well beyond.

Last year’s winner – Hope Street, Southampton, designed by Snug Architects and commissioned by charity One Small Thing – is a great example, exploring better ways to assist and generate opportunities for women caught up in the justice system. Below, you’ll find a link to read about this year’s winner, a scheme that shares that passion, overcoming similar challenges around financing, planning and inertia to reimagine its sector and improve lives – as do the other four superb schemes that have been commended this time round.

Looking through all the entries was this year’s perspicacious jury: Kathy MacEwen, planner and daughter of Anni and Malcolm MacEwen, after whom this award is named; Robyn Poulson, associate at BDP London; Steve Wilkinson, associate at James Gorst Architects; and Mike Worthington, founding director of People Architects (previously a director at Snug). Many thanks to them all, and also to BDP, which has generously supported the award over many years. And, of course, to all this year’s entrants, encompassing a gratifyingly diverse range of practices scattered across the country.

As ever, the high quality made judging a challenging if invigorating process – and one proving that, at its best, architecture for the common good is a force for change.

Winner
Severn View Park Care Home, Caldicot, Monmouthshire 
Pentan Architects for Monmouthshire County Council 

Highly commended
Nyth, Bangor, Wales 
Manalo & White Architects for Frân Wen 

Commended
Revoe Public Square, Blackpool 
Other People's Dreams for LeftCoast 

Commended
Lea Bridge Library Pavilion and Garden, London 
Studio Weave for London Borough of Waltham Forest 

Special mention
Halifax Bus Station, Yorkshire 
Stephen George & Partners for West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Calderdale Council 

 

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