Winner of last year’s ACE* Project Design Excellence Award (companies with up to 250 employees), Skelly & Couch is in the running for the same award this year based on its work on the Alfriston School Swimming Pool, Brighton College Music School and Chichester Festival Theatre projects. It has also been shortlisted for the ACE Building Services prize.

The six Skelly & Couch projects shortlisted for RIBA Awards are:

Alfriston School Pool (Duggan Morris Architects) RIBA South
The captivating design, which features a striking, geometrically folded timber roof, incorporates a number of sustainable features, including high levels of natural light, heat pump water heating of the pool coupled with a heat reclaim ventilation system, excellent airtightness values, high levels of insulation, as well as efficient lighting and control. The Structural Winner in the 2014 Wood Awards.

Caryl Churchill Theatre (Foster Wilson Architects) RIBA South East
The £2.5 million new theatre complex at Royal Holloway, University of London, meets the London Plan’s 40% carbon reduction target and has achieved a BREEAM Very Good rating and an EPC rating of C.

Chichester Festival Theatre (Haworth Tompkins) RIBA South East
The recent refurbishment at the iconic, Grade II*-listed Chichester Festival Theatre involved the construction of new-build, back-of-house areas that add approximately 50% to the floor area. The unique setting and listed status meant that modernisation of services and facilities had to give clarity to the original design.

Donmar Warehouse Dryden Street (Haworth Tompkins) RIBA London
Having acquired a small 19th Century warehouse building in Dryden Street, Covent Garden, the Donmar Warehouse theatre company wanted to convert it for rehearsal, education and support facilities. Skelly & Couch’s design proposals for services aimed to reduce the energy used by the development at the completion of works by at least 20%.

Fitzroy Park (Stanton Williams) RIBA London
Surrounded by natural landscape on the eastern fringe of Hampstead Heath, this spectacular contemporary house within the Highgate Conservation area is designed to be naturally ventilated and well insulated, and skylights are placed strategically throughout the building to bring in further daylight and ensure a close connection with nature.

Scape/Ravensbourne (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris) RIBA London
A new student accommodation building at Greenwich Peninsula. The scheme represents the first buildings to be connected to the Greenwich Peninsula District Heating Network, making use of Combined Heat and Power. All these factors contributed to the project meeting the London Plan’s 40% carbon reduction target and it being awarded a BREEAM Excellent Rating and an EPC rating of A.

* Association for Consultancy and Engineering