Alison Brooks

Alison Brooks RDI (born 1962)[1] is an architect whose practice, Alison Brooks Architects, is based in London, England.[2] She is credited as being the only architect of the UK to have won all three of the RIBA awards.[3] Some of her designs include Smile (Chelsea School of Art), the Accordia Masterplan (Cambridge), her installation at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the first high-rise for the Greenwich Peninsula in London.[4]

Alison Brooks

Born1962
Alma materUniversity of Waterloo
OccupationArchitect
PracticeAlison Brooks Architects
Buildingsthe Accordia Masterplan (Cambridge) and the first high-rise for the Greenwich Peninsula in London
ProjectsSmile (Chelsea School of Art) and her installation at the Venice Architecture Biennale
Websitewww.alisonbrooksarchitects.com

Early career

Brooks was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada in 1962. She finished her studies in architecture with a BES and BArch at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, in 1988.[3] She moved to the UK and worked with the designer Ron Arad. In 1991 she became a partner in Ron Arad Associates. While she worked for Ron Arad Associates she worked on projects such as the Foyer of the Tel Aviv Opera. She said: "We were doing something in Tel Aviv which was a completely free form piece of architecture inside a really big, corporate piece of architecture. We were doing it as a kind of protest piece, and we thought that the whole world was going to stop and take notice, and hundreds of hundreds of operas were going to call us up and ask us to do rheum next opera building, which of course that didn't happen."[5] Although they did not receive commissions for other opera houses, they did receive commissions for other projects in London, including the restaurants Belgo Noord and Belgo Centraal.[5]

Alison Brooks Architects

In 1996 she founded her own practice, Alison Brooks Architects (ABA), based in London,[1] where she initially worked on small projects. "These are the kinds of things that you do when you've got a new practice and you're waiting for the big one to walk in the door," she said. Eventually she started to received larger commissions, and her company began to become more successful.[5]

With growing success, her goal in London was to address big problems such as housing and public spaces. She said: "I wanted to address some of the big, big problems that needed to be addressed, particularly in London. The quality of housing and the quality of public space really suffered in the 1980s under Thatcher, and there has been, in the last ten years in London, a movement to start investing in the public realm and looking at things that haven't been looked at in a long time: new forms of housing, sustainable housing, urban design and infrastructure – all of the stuff that Britain's been pretty far behind on. So that was my big ambition."[6]

Alison Brooks Architects designed "Brass" building, Accordia, Cambridge, England

Brooks' architecture has been described as "a late flowering of the most elegant and sensuous modernism".[7] She is particularly known for designing intelligent and beautiful houses but in recent times has moved into the cultural sector, such as designing the Performing Arts Centre at Folkestone.[7] She says: "The main point I try to make is that the idiosyncrasies or each project drive different solutions. I really like that people don't know what they are getting with me."[6] Brooks emphasis on uniqueness and purpose is at the core of all her projects. She told the Financial Times, "It's not about the next tall building. It should be about the elements that people connect with directly."[8]

Alison Brooks and her company have cultivated an "international reputation"[9] for detailed excellence and individualization in designs such as public buildings for the arts, urban regeneration, master planning, housing, and higher education.[10] Brooks has been praised for her work's "conceptual rigor, sculptural quality, and ingenious detailing"[9] as well as being a major advocate for civic housing. ABA's architectural design is developed from thorough research into the social, cultural, and environmental contexts of each project's location. Brooks describes the company's approach as "enabl[ing] us to develop authentic, responsive solutions for our buildings and urban schemes, each with a distinct identity. Combining formal invention with rigorous attention to detail, ABA's buildings have proved to satisfy our client's expectations and positively impact the urban realm."[10] Through ABA, Brooks can also be accredited with the resurgence and repopularization of the use of timber in architecture and craft design.[9]

Domestic

Brooks and ABA have worked to advocate towards housing through community buildings by designing mixed-income housing projects.[11] In the London borough of Brent, the award-winning Ely Court (completed in 2015) stands as a notable example. The rundown building has been replaced with three mid-rise buildings filled with 43 residential rooms. Her design allows for increased social engagement within the community, particularly by providing spaces open to the public. Brooks advocates for "delivering along with new buildings a sense of civic pride and social rejuvenation,"[12] helping to aid and promote inclusiveness and social diversity.[10]

"Urban housing is the most important type of social architecture, it frames everyday life; it forms people's world view." - Alison Brooks[8]

Houses

  • Mesh House, London
  • Windward House, Gloucestershire
  • Fold House, London
  • Herringbone Houses, London
  • Lens House, London
  • Accordia Sky Villas, Cambridge
  • Salt House, Essex
  • VXO House, London
  • Wrap House, London

Residential

  • S5 King's Cross, London
  • East Parkside, London
  • Newhall Be, Harlow
  • Ely Court, London
  • Accordia Sky Villas, Cambridge
  • Accordia Brass Building, Cambridge
  • Kilburn Quarter, London
  • Albert Crescent, Bath
  • Durham & Gloucester Court, London
  • Athena, Cambridge
  • Severn Place, Cambridge
  • Barton Park, Oxford
  • South Acton Estate Regeneration: Phase 2a, London
  • Tribeca, Liverpool
  • Rochester Riverside, Medway
  • Elmswell Social Housing, Suffolk
  • Dollis Valley, London
  • Chobham Manor, London
  • Gateshead BIG, Tyne and Wear
  • Meadow Housing, Buckinghamshire
  • Grahame Park, London
  • Neon Waterfront, London
  • Central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Theatres

  • Quarterhouse, Folkestone
  • M.K. Čiurlionis Concert Centre, Kaunas, Lithuania
  • Olympicopolis: Sadler's Wells & Smithsonian, Stratford, London
  • Corpus Christi Auditorium, Oxford
  • Bridgwater College Performing Arts Centre, Somerset[11]

Education

  • Churchill College Graduate Residences, Cambridge
  • Exeter College Cohen Quad, Oxford
  • University of Northampton, Northampton
  • Bridgwater College Performing Arts Centre, Somerset[11]

Culture

  • ReCasting, Venice Biennale
  • The Smile, London
  • Quarterhouse, Folkstone
  • ABA 21, Somerset House, London
  • Science Museum Event Space, London
  • M.K. Čiurlionis Concert Centre, Kaunas, Lithuania
  • City (e) State, Venice
  • Olympicopolis: Sadler's Wells & Smithsonian, Stratford, London
  • Helsinki Central Library, Finland
  • Hammerfest Arctic Culture Centre, Norway
  • Hay Castle Restoration, Powys, Wales
  • Giant's Causeway Visitors' Centre, Bushmills, Northern Ireland
  • Bridgwater College Performing Arts Centre, Somerset
  • Triennal Arts Center, Folkestone, Kent
  • Prototype Warehouse[11]

Master planning and urbanism

  • City (e) State, Venice
  • Durham & Gloucester Court, London
  • Ely Court, London
  • University of Northampton, Northampton
  • Dollis Valley, London
  • Meadow Housing, Buckinghamshire
  • Athena, Cambridge
  • Newhall Be, Harlow
  • Kilburn Quarter, London
  • Albert Crescent, Bath
  • Audi Urban Future Initiative, Venice / Mumbai
  • Old Street Oasis, Islington, London
  • If I Could Design London, London[11]

Mixed design

  • S5 King's Cross, London
  • Severn Place, Cambridge
  • Albert Crescent, Bath
  • Tribeca, Liverpool
  • Rochester Riverside, Medway
  • Grahame Park, London
  • Central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire[11]

Commercial

  • Prototype Warehouse
  • Wildspace Warehouse, Rainham
  • Highgate Studios, Kentish Town
  • Atoll Spa Hotel, Helgoland[11]

Health

  • Maggie's Centre, Taunton, Somerset[11]

Furniture

Awards and notable achievements

Debrett's named Alison Brooks one of "Britain's 500 Most Influential"[13] due to the fact that she is widely regarded as one of the "leading architects of her generation."[9] She was also recognized by ArchDaily as one of the "30 Most Influential Architects in London."[14]

Alison Brooks is the only architect of the UK to have won all three of the RIBA awards:[15] the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize (for The Wrap House, in 2006),[16] the RIBA Manser Medal (in 2014 for the Lens House),[17] and the RIBA Stirling Prize for their part in the design of Accordia, a high-density development of 378 residential rooms.[18] These three awards are considered to be the most prestigious awards in the UK for architecture.[15]

In March 2013, Brooks received the Architects' Journal's Woman Architect of the Year Award. One of the judges, Paul Monaghan, said: "Her mixture of sculpture, architecture and detail is what has made her such a powerful force in British architecture."[19]

In 2016, she designed Smile, a temporary cantilevered wooden structure on the grounds of the Chelsea School of Art, demonstrating the structural feasibility of cross-laminated timber.[20] This architecture-art hybrid "pushed the boundaries of hardwood engineering" by using only 12 panels of cross-laminated American tulipwood.[12] Even though it was only present for a month, the piece received over 13,000 Instagram impressions and 96,000 Twitter mentions.[12]

Alison Brooks' / ABA's Awards[21]
Year Awards
2018
Evening Standard New Homes Award – Best Regeneration Project – Kilburn Quarter London
RESI Awards – Development of the Year – Kilburn Quarter London
National Housing Awards – Best Design – Kilburn Quarter London
2017
Wood Awards – Structural Award – The Smile London
Shortlisted: Wood Awards – Small Architecture – The Smile London
World Architecture Festival – Display – The Smile London
The American Architecture Prize – Small Architecture – The Smile London
Shortlisted: World Architecture Festival – Small Projects – The Smile London
Shortlisted: Blueprint Awards – Best Small Project – The Smile London
Civic Voice Design Awards – Housing – Albert Crescent Bath
Shortlisted: Housing Design Award – Barton Park Oxford
Architizer A+ Awards – Pavilions – The Smile London
Shortlisted: Architizer A+ Awards – Architecture +Wood – The Smile London
Shortlisted: Architizer A+ Awards – Pop-Ups & Temporary – The Smile London
Finalist: EU Mies van der Rohe Award – Ely Court London
2016
Honor: Wood Design & Building Awards – The Smile London
Shortlisted: Sunday Times British Homes Awards – Albert Crescent Bath
RIBA National Award – Ely Court London
RIBA Regional Award – Ely Court London
Shortlisted: NLA Award – Ely Court London
University of Waterloo Honorary Doctorate in Engineering
Mayor of London Award, Housing Design Awards – Ely Court London
Project Award, Housing Design Awards – Athena Cambridge
Shortlisted: Housing Design Award – Albert Crescent Bath
Architizer A+ Award: Special Mention – Severn Place Cambridge
Shortlisted: RICS Award – Regeneration – Ely Court London
Dezeen Hot List
2015
Commended: British Home Awards – Development of the Year – Albert Crescent Bath
Architizer A+ Award: Large Private House – Lens House London
Shortlisted Competition – Churchill College Graduate Residences Cambridge
Shortlisted Competition – New College New Quad Oxford
Shortlisted Competition – Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Cultural Quarter (Olympicopolis)
Shortlisted Competition – Trinity Hall, Cambridge: New Music Practice Rooms
Shortlisted Competition – St Hilda's College, Oxford: New Entrance Buildings
2014
Shortlisted: RIBA Manser Medal – Lens House London
RIBA National Award – Lens House London
Housing Design Award – Project Award – Albert Crescent Bath
University of Waterloo Alumni Achievement Award, Faculty of Engineering, Professional Category
RIBA London Award – Lens House London
Grand Designs Award: Best Extension – Lens House London
Shortlisted: Design Museum 'Designs of the Year' – Newhall Be Harlow
London Evening Standard: Best Regeneration Project – South Acton Estate Regeneration: Phase 2aLondon
2013
Shortlisted: RIBA Stirling Prize – Newhall Be Harlow
Housing Design Awards 2013: Supreme Winner – Newhall Be Harlow
AJ Woman Architect of the Year 2013
Housing Design Award
RIBA National Award – Newhall Be Harlow
RIBA East Regional Award – Newhall Be Harlow
RIBA East Building of the Year – Newhall Be Harlow
Shortlisted: NLA Awards – Best Residential Project – Dollis Valley London
2012
BD Architect of the Year Gold Award
BD Housing Architect of the Year
2010
Kent Design Awards Best Public Building – Quarterhouse Folkestone
Audi Urban Future Award – Finalist – Audi Urban Future Initiative Venice / Mumbai
XII Venice Architecture Biennale – German Pavilion, Contributing Architect
Building For Life Gold Standard – Newhall Be Harlow
2009
British Home Awards: Small House of the Year – Newhall Be Harlow
Housing Design Awards: Project Award – Newhall Be Harlow
RIBA National Award – Quarterhouse Folkestone
RIBA South East Regional Award – Quarterhouse Folkestone
RIBA Stirling Prize Midlist – Quarterhouse Folkestone
2008
RIBA Stirling Prize – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
RIBA National Award – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
RIBA East Regional Award – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
Shortlisted: RIBA Manser Medal – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
Shortlisted: BD Housing Architect of the Year Award
Housing Design Awards, Project Award – Tribeca Liverpool
Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award – Salt House Essex
Civic Trust Award – Herringbone Houses London
2007
RIBA Manser Medal – Salt House Essex
RIBA National Award – Salt House Essex
RIBA East Regional Award – Salt House Essex
Shortlisted: Olympic Development Authority Greenway Competition
Civic Trust Award – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
2006
RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize – Wrap House London
RIBA National Award – Wrap House London
RIBA London Regional Award – Wrap House London
Housing Design Awards: Overall Winner – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
National Homebuilders Awards: Best Large Scale Housing Project – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
National Homebuilders Awards: Best Housing Project of the Year – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
Finalist: BD Architect of the Year Award – Best Private Housing Architect & Best Single Dwelling Architect
Commendation: Wood Awards – Wrap House London
Grand Design Awards: Best New Build House – Salt House Essex
Shortlisted: Liverpool Affordable Housing Competition, Urban Splash
Competition Winner – Tribeca Liverpool
Shortlisted – Corpus Christi Auditorium Oxford
Joint Winner: South Chase Development
Housing Design Awards: Best Medium Housebuilder – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
2005
Shortlisted: Liverpool Affordable Housing Competition, Urban Splash
Shortlisted: Lister Mills, Bradford, Urban Design and Housing Competition for Urban Splash
2004
Competition 2nd Place – Old Street Oasis Islington, London
National Homebuilder Design Awards: Best Housing Project of the Year – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
Shortlisted: Housing at New Islington Urban Village Manchester
2003
Housing Design Award – Accordia Masterplan Cambridge
Shortlisted: ICA New Galleries Competition
2002
RIBA London Regional Award – VXO House London
Finalist: Blueprint Architecture Awards – VXO House London
Finalist: AJ First Building Award – VXO House London
Shortlisted: the British Pavilion IX Venice Biennale of Architecture '02
Eve Magazine: Recipient of one of ten BBC 'Britain's Smartest Women' Award
2000
HotelSpec European Awards: Best Interior Design – Atoll Spa Hotel Helgoland
HotelSpec European Awards: Best Guestroom Design – Atoll Spa Hotel Helgoland
Competition 2nd Prize: Hurlingham Park Sports Pavilion
1999
Competition 1st Prize: Liverpool Rope Walks Street Furniture
3rd Prize: Corus/Building Design 'Young Architect of the Year'
Runner-up: Europan 5 'New Housing Landscapes'
1998
Competition 2nd Prize: 'Concept House '99' Daily Mail Ideal Home
Architecture Foundation Roadshow: 'Soundscape for Hammersmith'

Other accomplishments

"Alison Brooks is a CABE / Design Council National Design Review Panel Chair and Trustee of Open-City. She was a member of The Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment and the RIBA Awards group from 2010-15, where she was juror for the 2011 Stirling Prize and 2010 Lubetkin Prize. Brooks is currently External Examiner at the Architectural Association where she taught a Diploma Unit from 2008-2010. Alison lectures internationally on architecture and urban design. In 2016 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada."[9]

Published works

Alison Brooks revealed some of her processes, techniques, and themes in her published work Synthesis: Culture and Context in 2014.[22]

21 years after the founding of Alison Brooks Architects, Brooks published Ideals then Ideas which she calls "an overview of the practice's work within conceptual, formal and material themes that have emerged over the past two decades."[9]

In 2018, the Harvard Business Review published an article co-authored by Brooks, "The Surprising Power of Questions: It Goes Far Beyond Exchanging Information."[23]

Personal life

Brooks grew up in Canada, and now lives with her husband in Queen's Park, London, which she thinks of as a "perfect Victorian neighbourhood".[24]

References

  1. Rising Stars Profile: Alison Brooks, BBC Radio 3, 2001. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  2. Entries for Alison Brooks and Alison Brooks Architecture on the Union List of Artist Names
  3. "The Ideal and the Real: Why Civicness is the Project | MIT Architecture". architecture.mit.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  4. "Arch Daily: 30 Most Influential Architects in London - Alison Brooks Architects". Alison Brooks Architects. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  5. Lerner, Kevin (25 July 2001). "Alison Brooks: big ideas for Britain". Archived from the original on 17 March 2006.
  6. Lerner, Kevin (2001). Alison Brooks: Big Ideas for Britain. Architectural Record. pp. 55–56.
  7. Jonathan Glancey Pearl in the shell, The Guardian (London), 5 December 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  8. Roux, Caroline (2018-05-11). "Architect Alison Brooks: 'It's not about the next tall building'". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  9. "Staff Archive - Alison Brooks Architects". Alison Brooks Architects. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  10. "Alison Brooks Architects celebrates its 21st birthday". Caro Communications.
  11. "Alison Brooks Architects - Architects with an international reputation for design excellence in projects ranging from masterplanning to buildings for education and the arts". Alison Brooks Architects. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  12. "What You Need to Know About Alison Brooks". Azure Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  13. "The Ideal and the Real: Why Civicness is the Project | MIT Architecture". architecture.mit.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  14. "Arch Daily: 30 Most Influential Architects in London - Alison Brooks Architects". Alison Brooks Architects. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  15. "Alison Brooks". www.mchmaster.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  16. "Stephen Lawrence Prize". www.architecture.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  17. "Lens House - Alison Brooks Architects". Alison Brooks Architects. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  18. RIBA Stirling Prize 2008: Accordia Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, RIBA website. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  19. Christine Murray (ed.), AJ Woman Architect of the Year: Alison Brooks, Architects' Journal, 28 March 2013, p. 14.
  20. Himelfarb, Ellen (29 July 2016). "The Smile by Alison Brooks Architects Gives CLT a Boost". Architect Magazine. American Institute of Architects. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  21. "Awards - Alison Brooks Architects". Alison Brooks Architects. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  22. Brooks, Alison (2015-02-01). Synthesis: Culture and Context. Actarbirkhauser. ISBN 9781908967251.
  23. "The Surprising Power of Questions: It Goes Far Beyond Exchanging Information" (PDF). Harvard Business Review (May-June 2018 ed.). Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  24. "Trade knowledge:award-winning architect Alison Brooks's interior design tips and favourite London furniture shops". 20 November 2018 via standard.co.uk.
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