This year, the AJ Small Projects Award went to the project, The Farmer’s Arms cold food store by Hayatsu Architects. The project was built on the side of a historic local pub in the Crake Valley, Lake District for Grizedale Arts, a local arts organisation specialising in crafts. The project was commended for the ‘cultural exchange’ it enabled. The judges also acknowledged the embrace of the project by the Grizedale Arts charity and the local community.

The structure adopts the typology of a traditional Japanese storage building and uses locally sourced materials. Direct and sensitive details are also used, with pieces of stone placed on the roof to give weight to the corrugated metal roofing and at ground, the building’s timber columns bear directly onto rock. The structure also uses traditional Japanese Shikkui plaster for its wall panels. The AJ Small Projects Award article can be read here.

Image: The Farmer’s Arms cold food store, 2023. Image credit Hayatsu Architects.