Hargeisa Municipality Common Room Architect Wins International Award

An efficient, ultra-light, socially driven project in Somaliland’s Hargeisa Municipality, costing just £9,500, has won the AJ Small Projects 2021 award, announced at a virtual lunchtime event today (Thursday 22 April) by AJ Architecture Editor Rob Wilson.

The 30m² common room for Hargeisa Town Hall was designed by London and Somaliland-based Rashid Ali Architects (formerly RA Projects) and constructed with a local carpenter and students from the nearby university’s school of architecture. Unlike familiar building methods in the area, the structure was made from timber frames.

It also takes the People’s Choice award, winning nearly 30 per cent out of over 2,000 votes received via a readers poll run on the AJ’s website.

It is the first time in the award’s 26-year history that a project in Africa has received the £2,500 top prize. The annual award, which has again been sponsored by Marley, celebrates small-scale gems with a contract value of £299,000 and under.

The scheme was chosen from a 20-strong shortlist by a judging panel consisting of Fiona Scott of Gort Scott, Pedro Gil of Studio Gil, Lendlease’s Selina Mason, last year’s  winner Martin Edwards and the AJ’s sustainability editor, Hattie Hartman.

The jury hailed the scheme as a ‘modest intervention which greatly improved its context … It is a small scheme with a big impact. This is what AJ Small Projects is all about.’

A separate social sustainability prize was awarded to Automated Architecture’s Block West in Bristol. The £75,000 temporary community hub formed of 145 plywood timber blocks is part of an associated public programme – an arts-led initiative enabling residents to gain skills in designing the spaces they need.

The judges were impressed by how the Bristol practice had collaborated with social scientist Claire McAndrew, arts charity Knowle West Media Centre and local residents, and the way the scheme engaged its community with its digital process, describing it as ‘an intersectional piece of architecture which goes beyond a building’.

The judges said both winning schemes raised ‘important conversations about how we live together’.

All entries to this year’s awards are free to view in the AJ Buildings Library with the full shortlist available here. Copies of the AJ Small Projects special issue are available to buy from the AJ Shop.

AJ Small Projects is run in association with Marley