Grand Designs awards

'The London entries were strong and bold, particularly in the eco field'

Sliding House (right), by the experimental firm dRMM, was full of surprises.

The house, built from glass and birch, and looking rather like a giant greenhouse to start with, sits in front of a 20-ton timber “skin” that can be rolled over it using railway tracks, transforming it into a well-insulated barn-like building with a completely different mood inside.

London entries were strong and bold, particularly in the “eco” field. The winner in this category was the Shoreditch Prototype house by Cox Bulleid architects. This “town house” has a living green skin that recycles CO2.

Conversions were also strong, reinforcing the theme of improving not moving, while shoehorning houses into small spaces worked well for Vicco’s Tower by 51% Studios or the bold boxy Camden extension by Crawford Partnership.

In the development category, the pretty, stripey Twenty Bishop’s Square by Matthew Lloyd manages to sit next to an ancient church in the middle of Spitalfields and not look odd.