Murphy House wins RIBA House of the Year

The most prestigious award in British residential architecture was won by Murphy House at the RIBA House of the Year awards.

Designed by Richard Murphy Architects with Max Fordham for Richard Murphy himself, the house was revealed as the winner on the final episode of Grand Designs: House of the Year by Kevin McCloud.

The judges called it a 'deeply personal space filled with tricks and surprises', situated as a bookend to a terrace row of houses in Edinburgh.'

Max Fordham's project engineer for the house, Brett Done, congratulated Richard Murphy Architects on the win.

'It has been a wonderful experience to work on the house,' Brett enthused. 'I have enjoyed the interaction with Richard and his team - seeing this marvellous design take shape over time'.

Brett gained an appreciation of the architect's work having visited his previous house. 'From way back, when I saw Richard's old mews house and saw his attention to little details. That fastidious approach has found its way into Murphy House'.

Max Fordham provided sustainability and energy efficiency advice and M&E design for the project.

'I have been delighted to contribute to the design of the house, and help make it both comfortable and environmentally considerate,' noted Brett. 'I particularly enjoyed the challenge of bringing some of Richard's more pioneering ideas in thermal comfort and energy recovery into reality.

One of the House of the Year judges, Philip Thorn, commented that he '...loved the long list of environmentally friendly touches.'

The win makes it two in a row for Max Fordham after last year's Flint House with Skene Catling de la Peña.