As 2024 draws to a close, we’ve taken a look back at another year of practice – AHMM’s 35th. The tentative emergence of a more positive outlook in the construction industry, along with a steady year of consolidation for our practice, has given us a renewed sense of stability and cautious optimism. The ongoing challenges of global events combined with the climate and biodiversity emergency give us an ever-greater focus for our work to design and operate responsibly and sustainably; to deliver lasting, flexible buildings; and, where we can, to use our skills and resources to make a positive impact beyond our architectural work.
In the context of these challenges, we’re pleased to have seen continued progress on key projects in the UK and US, with the completion of several, including Urbanest Battersea, our first PassivHaus building; the final phase of Assembly, a trio of office buildings in central Bristol; and the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus Research Hub, the home for Bristol University’s Digital Futures Institute.
Other recently completed buildings have won acclaim and pan-industry awards, including from the British Council for Offices, the Civic Trust, and the Housing Design Awards, and you can read more about them below. Awards are important, but the real proof of success is in the satisfaction of our clients and the users of our buildings which, in one case, will include some of our own teams: as the year closes, The Citizen, a major office building overlooking a sensitive site in Oklahoma City, will complete and AHMM’s OKC office will move there in the new year.
Many of the projects gaining planning approval this year involve the reuse or redevelopment of existing buildings, from large, complex schemes in high profile or sensitive urban locations to those much smaller in scale but significant in different ways, such as our proposals for the decarbonisation of the Denys Lasdun-designed, Grade II* listed University of London Institute for Education building.
Our Building Performance Team drives our approach to sustainable design, reducing the environmental impact of our architecture and operations and sharing our progress and expertise with the industry. This work has included our second report as part of our commitment to reducing carbon emissions guided by the Science-Based Targets initiative; a report examining and challenging the whole life carbon impact of Cat A fit out; and participating in the inaugural AT Regenerative Architecture Index, which benchmarks architects’ progress towards regenerative practice.
AHMM’s commitment to contributing skills, resources and volunteering time to communities and organisations, led by our Partnerships Group, has also continued this year, and our Review includes more about this work, including our diverse and award-winning programme to support broadening access to education and careers.
Supporting our next generation of architects gives us optimism for the future as we approach a new year; and the opportunities of our projects in progress continue to inspire and challenge us towards ever better and more sustainable architecture. With optimism and inspiration in mind, we thank our teams, clients, collaborators and colleagues who make our successes possible.
Main image: 10 Lewis Cubitt Square, part of the King’s Cross Masterplan, London, photographed in winter 2024 by Tim Soar
Completed Projects
Project Updates
Awards
This year eighteen AHMM projects have received recognition from an assortment of architectural, urban and specialist awards, including the RIBA, BCO, Civic Trust and World Architecture Festival.
Planning
Twelve exciting new projects received planning through out 2024, from a new cultural building celebrating Sir Ken Dodd in Liverpool to the redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green.
Site Progress
Ten AHMM projects have reached significant milestones within their construction process this year.
Competitions
Mulgu Place
The winning scheme in a City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition, Mulgu Place is a collaboration between MHNDU and AHMM for Meriton as part of their redevelopment of a former car yard site in Zetland, Sydney.
Pozuelo Fairground and Conference Centre
AHMM was named as one of five finalists competing to redevelop Madrids Pozuelo fairground and conference centre along with Enrique Bardaji Asociados, Estudio Martin Caballero, Mangado y Asociados, and Vaillo-Irigaray y Asociados.
Conservatoire de Nîmes
AHMM was named runners up in a competition to redevelop the existing university of the Carmelites located on Place Gabriel Peri in the centre of Nîmes, into a Conservatory of Music, Dance and Dramatic Art.
Vivid Sydney’s A New Normal Exhibition
Andrew O’Donnell at AHMM collaborated with Solotel, one of Sydney’s leading hospitality groups, for the exhibition, creating a concept for ‘The Carbon Free Kitchen’.
LSE's Bankside House
AHMM was named as one of the six finalists competing to redevelop Bankside House for leading university London School of Economics and Political Science.
Sustainability
AHMM Carbon Emissions 2023
AHMM is committed to reducing our carbon footprint. Using 2022 as our baseline, we have established clear targets for both operational and project related emissions, aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Fit Out // Rip Out
This report aims to quantify the potential carbon impact of Cat A fit out in commercial office buildings, challenging an industry standard approach to the design, construction, and marketing of speculative office space, and examines whole life carbon impact of Cat A fit our related to tenant lease cycles.
Inspiring Women in Property awards
AHMM's Ella Smith was shortlisted for Property Week's Inspiring Women in Property 2024 Awards in the Rising Star - Commercial category for her sector leading Fit Out / / Rip Out research, for which she was lead researcher and co-author with AHMM's Head of Sustainability, Dr Craig Robertson.
Regenerative Architecture Index
AHMM participated in the Regenerative Architecture Index, giving detailed information about our efforts to address the challenges posed by climate change and accelerate the transition to a regenerative, more equitable future.
Culture
Partnerships
Our Partnerships work throughout 2024 continued to engage with our communities, local, global and architectural, through donations, fundraising and volunteering.
Practice Culture
Throughout 2024 staff from across our offices have been involved in a number of events from cycling hundreds of kilometers across different countries to holding a gift drive for families experiencing homelessness.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
The more inclusive and equitable our place of work is, the better equipped we are to design buildings that provide for this society.
