The AJ Retrofit Awards are back – and they’ve been retrofitted

The AJ Retrofit Awards, which have been running for nearly 15 years, have been revamped to become the AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards to recognise architectural expertise and ingenuity in the physical and environmental adaption and upgrade of buildings, and the reuse of building materials and structure in response to the climate emergency and changing requirements of use.

The awards have evolved to make them more relevant to the industry by celebrating and highlighting the diversity of approaches to retrofit in a much more tailored way by introducing new categories.

All 14 categories have been refreshed and, new for next year, three of the categories will be live judged. Shortlisted practices for Climate Resilience and Adaption, Deconstruction and Reuse, and Private/Individual Renovation will present their projects live in front of a jury and audience earlier in the day at the AJ Retrofit Live conference.

The new categories range from Adaptive Reuse to Conservation and Historic to Decarbonisation. One of the categories – Retrofit Revisited – has been introduced to celebrate previous Retrofit Awards winners and other retrofits over five years old to showcase long-lasting projects.

In addition, there are three non-enterable categories for outstanding winners selected by the editorial team: Client of the Year, Practice of the Year and Retrofit of the Year.

All projects submitted (other than for Future Reuse and Retrofit Revisted) must have been completed between February 1 2022 and January 31 2024.

Both events will take place at The Brewery in London on 11 September 2024.

Early bird savings are available until 19 January 2024 for awards entries and 15 June 2024 for conference tickets. Bundles are on offer that save you up to 15 per cent if you attend both events. The final deadline for entering the awards is 9 February 2024.

Last year, Mikhail Riches won the 2023 AJ Retrofit of the Year award for its second phase of Sheffield’s Park Hill housing estate, after winning both the Housing and Listed Building £5 million and over categories.

What are the new categories?

• Adaptive Reuse The conversion and repurposing of an existing building to new uses other than that for which it was originally built
• Climate Resilience and Adaption Projects with a focus on adaptions/additions intended to deal with or mitigate environmental change and weather extremes including increased shading, incorporation of green roofs and landscaping SUDs strategies, for example
• Conservation and Historic The restoration or careful upgrade of ancient, historic or listed buildings and structures
• Decarbonisation Projects involving the environmental upgrade of fabric and services of large or multi-occupancy buildings or multiple buildings across a property portfolio – for example, council schemes to upgrade housing stock
• Deconstruction and Reuse ‘New build’ or retrofit projects demonstrating circularity and the reuse of building components, materials and structural elements from previous buildings
• Fit-out Projects focused on the rework and refresh of interior spaces, including shop and commercial fit-outs, employing low-carbon and circular economy principles
• Future Reuse Planned and future projects on the drawing board, in particular those looking to push the envelope in terms of retrofit and reuse
• Grassroots Projects Neighbourhood-based and community-initiated and or/led projects, including the upgrade and retrofit of shared or communal spaces
• Net Zero Retrofit Data-driven projects that have specifically or demonstrably targeted net zero benchmarks during their upgrade
• Positive Addition Projects that combine old and new and involve the renovation of the existing with a new-build addition that together extend the useful life of the whole. The existing element needs to be larger in m² than the new-build element
• Private/Individual Renovation From domestic renovations and home extensions to other personal projects designed to improve private houses or properties
• Projects under £500,000 Retrofit on a budget and for smaller renovation or adaptive reuse projects (lower entry cost)
• Retrofit Revisited Open to retrofits over five years old and previous Retrofit Awards winners – celebrating proven long-life/long-lasting projects
• Saved from Demolition Retrofit and reuse projects where the scheme has demonstrably saved or given new life to buildings that were no longer fit for purpose and slated for demolition