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Excellence Award Winners 2020

Image 6 (credit Hufton + Crow)
The 2020 Excellence Award Winners

Despite the disruption caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, 2020 saw us receive the highest ever number of entries to the coveted Schüco Excellence Awards for design and innovation, attracting a wide range of high-calibre projects from practices large and small. 


One of the key themes that emerged from the jury discussion was how the considered handling and integration of façade units can go beyond aesthetic and technical proficiency to underpin and even augment a building’s architectural concept or parti.

  
This is all the more impressive when – as many of the award submissions showed – architects skilfully employ ‘off-the-shelf’ systems and products to produce expressive façades that are so much more than the sum of their individual parts. Once again, the awards highlighted the importance of combining high-quality façade systems with the expertise of specialist contractors and a sound understanding of environmental design principles, including daylighting and energy performance.
 

Read the Schüco Excellence Awards 2020 Supplement (pdf, 11.6 MB)

The Event

Due to the global pandemic, we were not able to host the Excellence Awards as we usually would however this gave us the opportunity to broadcast the event live to a much wider audience making the 2020 Excellence Awards the largest attended.  


If you missed the awards ceremony or would simply like to watch it again you can do so here.

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Meet the judges

The 2020 jury included architects Jelena Cousins, Hazel Joseph, Stuart Piercy (all previous Schüco Excellence Award winners), and Kirsten Lees, as well as Harry Montrésor and Steve Mudie, who both have specialist knowledge of façade design. 


In their assessment of the entries, the judges looked for evidence of four key qualities:

 
Creativity – Does the project demonstrate design quality, whether on a macro and/or micro scale?


Innovation – Is there evidence of significant innovation in terms of design, detail or construction expertise?


Technical skill – Does the project show high levels of technical skill in its detailed design and/or assembly?


Creative collaboration – Does the project demonstrate a productive and creative collaboration between the designer, specialist contractor and/or manufacturer?

Jelena mono

Jelena Cousins

Co-founder

Cousins & Cousins

Co-founder of Cousins & Cousins in 2012, whose Kenwood Lee House won the Individual House category in the 2019 Schüco Awards. Current projects include a modular timber office development in London.

Hazel

Hazel Joseph

Associate Director

AHMM

Associate director at AHMM, whose BBC Television Centre project won the Refurbishment category in the 2019 Schüco Awards. She recently led the design and development of the Capital Building at Nine Elms in London.

Kirsten mono

Kirsten Lees

Managing Partner

Grimshaw's London Studio

Managing partner at Grimshaw’s London studio, whose work includes strategic planning, urban design and regeneration in sensitive environments. Key current projects include the Sadberk Hanim Museum in Istanbul.

HM1 mono

Harry Montrésor

Partner

Montrésor Partnership

Partner at the Montrésor Partnership with extensive experience and expertise in working with cladding systems on new and existing buildings as both an architect and façade consultant.

Steve mono

Steve Mudle

Partner

Alinea

Partner at cost consultant Alinea with extensive experience in the curtain walling industry. He provides strategic advice on façade solutions across all market sectors.

Stuart-Piercy-mono

Stuart Piercy

Founder

Piercy & Company

Founder of Piercy & Company in 2002, whose Turnmill office building won the Commercial category in the 2015 Schüco Awards. Current projects include the redevelopment of Millennium Bridge House in London.