The Architectural Review is seeking the most creative adaptive reuse projects from around the world
As the need for sustainable alternatives to building anew becomes increasingly urgent, the AR New into Old awards celebrate the creative ways buildings are adapted and remodelled to welcome new contemporary uses. Launched in 2017, the awards recognise the imaginative appropriation of existing structures that offer buildings a new lease of life, from innovative insertions to ambitious adaptations.
The Farsh film studio by ZAV Architects won the 2021 edition of the awards.
Credit: Behnam Sedighi
Winning the 2021 awards for the Farsh Film Studio in Tehran, Mohamadreza Ghodousi of ZAV Architects instructed architects to ‘design the process, not the building’. Ghodousi went on to judge the 2023 awards, commending winning project, Site Verrier by SO-IL and Freaks Architecture, as ‘a joyful urban superimposition that invades the courtyard and revitalises the life of the buildings.’ Also on the judging panel, Lu Wenyu of Amateur Architecture Studio described the winner as having ‘a visionary design approach that breathes new life into historical sites while preserving their authenticity.’
Highly commended in 2023 was Laguna México in Mexico City, Mexico by Productora
Credit: Camila Cossio
Regardless of programme, budget, site or scale, The Architectural Review is looking for projects completed in the last 5 years which have had their life extended by the insertion of new uses rather than demolition and replacement. All entries will be reviewed by an expert international judging panel, which will choose a shortlist of up to six commended buildings. The judges’ six chosen schemes will all be visited by an independent critic before the judges choose a winner.
The AR New into Old awards are diverse and wide-ranging. Previous winners and finalists include SO-IL, ZAV Architects, David Kohn Architects, Ryan W Kennihan Architects, Davidson Rafailidis, Freaks Architecture, Flores & Prats, Rural Urban Framework, Witherford Watson Mann, Aulets Arquitectes, O-office, Wingårdhs, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Productora.
To find out more about the AR New into Old awards and enter today, click here, or view examples of adaptive re-use projects previously published in the AR
Lead image: Site Verrier by SO-IL and Freaks Architecture in Meisenthal, France, won the 2023 New into Old awards. Photograph by Arthur Crestani
