9th July 2018
Academy House Finalist in AJ Retrofit Awards 2018
Academy House has been shortlisted in the AJ Retrofit Awards in the Office 2,000 – 5,000m2 category. The awards recognise and celebrate design, engineering and construction excellence that prolongs and improves the life of the built environment.
JRA carried out the comprehensive refurbishment and re-cladding of Academy House, a existing 1980’s building situated on Oxford Street. The scheme provides a prominent retail unit with double-height frontage, four floors of high quality office space and a timber decked terrace that deliver stunning views of central London. The retrofit carefully considered the history of Academy House and was innovative in its use of materials including traditional terracotta faience to create a distinctive façade. The practice collaborated with London artist, Catherine Bertola and The Sculpture Factory to create a perforated steel ‘curtain’ at the entrance to the building featuring detailed patterns echoing the drapery used in theatres, a homage to Academy Houses origins as a 1930s pre-eminent Art House cinema.
Winners will be announced on 12 September at the Brewery in London.