6a architects is a British architectural practice, which was established in 2001 by

Stephanie Macdonald Stephanie Macdonald (born 15 October 1966 in Lewisham, London) is a British architect. She co-founded architecture firm 6a architects with Tom Emerson (architect), Tom Emerson in 2001. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire ...

and Tom Emerson. It is based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom. The practice won the RIBA National Award in 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and it was awarded the Erich Schelling Medal for Architecture in 2012.

The practice

Established in 2001, 6a architects is associated with projects involving cultural institutions such as art galleries, collaborations with artists and residential buildings. It was founded by life and business partners Stephanie Macdonald and Tom Emerson, who met at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in 1994. Speaking on why they decided to form the practice, Macdonald has said that it was as a way to balance the responsibilities of childcare and work, after their son was born in 1999. The practice’s first project was a showroom in Mayfair for the online fashion retailer Oki-ni. This was followed by several projects involving art galleries including

Raven Row A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

gallery in East London in 2009 and the expansion of the

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direct ...

in 2010. The practice was enlisted to work on the South London Gallery Fire Station, completed in 2018. Subsequently, the practice designed the new MK Gallery in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, which opened in 2019. The gallery was listed in second place in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

's top ten architecture 2019 list and at number one in

Rowan Moore Rowan Moore is an architecture critic. Rowan William Gillachrist Moore was born on 22 March 1961. His brother is the journalist, newspaper editor and Margaret Thatcher's official biographer Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham, and his gr ...

's 'top 5 buildings of 2019' in

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

. International projects have included multi-use towers in the Hafen district of

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, Germany, completed in 2020. MK_Gallery

Awards and nominations

The practice has received several awards, nominations and been on various shortlists. For Juergen Teller’s studio, the practice was awarded the RIBA London Building of the Year 2017, a RIBA National Award, a RIBA regional award and it was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling prize. It was awarded the Woods Award for Coastal House in Devon. There have also been three nominations for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies Van der Rohe Award, in 2011, 2013 and 2015. The Evening Standard listed Macdonald and Emerson on London’s most influential people in 2018 in the category of architecture. The practice was cited as one of

Domus In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...

's best architecture firms in 2020. Founders Macdonald and Emerson were both appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2021 New Years Honours for their services to architecture.

Notable works

* Oki-ni, Savile Row, London, 2001 *

, Contemporary Art Exhibition Centre, Spitalfields, London, 2009 *

, London, 2010 * Fashion Galleries,

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London, 2012 *

Romney's House Romney's House at 5 Holly Bush Hill, Hampstead, Camden, London was the home of the artist George Romney and then of the architect Clough Williams-Ellis. It is a Grade I listed building. The house was designed for Romney by Samuel Bunce ...

, Hampstead, London, 2012 * Tree House, London, London, 2013 * Façade for

Paul Smith Paul Smith or Paul Smith's may refer to: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (rock vocalist) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of ...

, Albemarle Street, London, 2013 * Studio for Juergen Teller, London, 2016 * Cowan Court,

Churchill College Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

Cambridge, 2015–16 * Black Stone Building, London, 2017 * Coastal House, Devon, 2017 * Blue Mountain School, London, 2018 * MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2019 * Housing, Hafen City, Hamburg, 2020 * A2-B2, Design District London, 2021 * Bedford House Community Centre, London 2021

Bibliography

* Never Modern by 6a architects and Irénée Scalbert, Park Books, Zurich, 2013,

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...

978-3-906027-24-1 * 6a architects 2009–17, El Croquis, no. 192, 2017,

978-84-947754-0-6

References

{{reflist

External links