The RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Award 2010 was awarded to the contemporary pool building in the Victorian walled garden of a country house located near Woodstock, Oxford.
The pool house is a part of a refurbishment of a Grade II-listed house in Oxfordshire. The house incorporates glass, timber and steel to create a structure that floats in the walled garden of the property. The project is a combination of modernity with a sensitive historic context. Yiangou partner Tony Salmon designed the glass-sided building in the house. The pool building with tall glass walls also incorporates a retractable glazed roof.
As described by the RIBA judges, the winning project is ‘a floating structure that almost disappears’. The judges also added that the pool building sports an ephemeral quality that is a rarity in architecture. Andrew Inchley, Yiiangou’s project architect described the work as highly challenging.
Yiangou Architects LLP specializes in high quality residential construction using both traditional and contemporary materials. Yiangou Architects will now compete with the other winning buildings for various categories in the Stirling Prize, due to be announced in late 2010.
A total of 102 awards have been presented for projects across the UK and Europe ranging from public schools and monuments to museums and private houses. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awards are for buildings which achieve the highest architectural standards and make a substantial contribution to the local environment.
