Build It Awards 2013 Winners

In November 2013 over 200 guests joined comedian Alan Davies, editor Anna-Marie DeSouza, the Build It team and a judging panel of industry experts to celebrate excellence in the self build and renovation sector.

Here’s a recap of the winners of each category, along with a brief note of what the judges said:

Best Self Build or Renovation Project

Winner: Joshua Penk’s woodland home

This category, sponsored by Brandon Hire, is voted for by the readers of Build It magazine and Self-Build.co.uk. The winning project (pictured above) was designed and built by the winner and his family, who learned and shared new skills along the way. The result was a very low cost home which demonstrates that attractive, contemporary style properties can be built on a small budget. Read the full story of Joshua’s amazing self build

Best Self Build Architect or Designer

Winner: Orme Architects for their work on Hookgate Cottage

There was tough competition for this category, sponsored by Kloeber UK. The winner was an architect firm that shone through because of the way their design uses a mixture of natural building materials and state-of-the-art technology, which together create a truly unique self build that meets the needs of the homeowner. Follow self builder Nick Mann’s online diary of the project

The Best use of Oak Frame

Winner: Welsh Oak Frame for the Leaceys’ home

The winner was selected for demonstrating the versatility of a traditional building material in creating a characterful modern property.

Best Rainwater product

Winner: Balmoral Tanks for the Balmoral HydroStore

In a closely fought battle, the entry that took the judges’ eye was a budget-friendly product with a good range of sizes and specifications due to its modular nature. It is lightweight, easy to install and can save a hefty sum in mains water usage.

Best Glazed Product: Windows

Winner: IQ Glass UK for their Innovare System

The winner of this category was selected because the product shows great innovation both in its appearance and in the development of structural glazing which provides extremely low U-values for great energy efficiency.

Best App / Online Tool

Winner: Yale for their Smartphone Alarm

The winning product gives great benefits that can be accessed remotely from your smart phone, tablet or PC. Its ease of installation, and ability to capture and feedback live images from your home impressed the judges.

Best use of SIPs

Winner: Nicholas Tye Architects and Thomas Carter for The Rueggers house

The winning project (pictured left) shows off structural insulated panels (SIPs) to their very best – they were used to create a very efficient, contemporary-style home, with a good design and very well thought-out use of structural material.

Best Eco product

Winner: Keystone for their Hi-Therm Sustainability Lintel

The winning product boasts impressive thermal performance statistics and provides an innovative solution to the inefficiencies of the conventional alternative and judges were also impressed by its simplicity.

Best Use of Brick

Winner: Northcot Bricks and Riach Architects for a Victorian renovation

The winner was selected for the remarkable transformation made when renovating and extending an Oxford town house.

Best Joinery product

Winner: Bisca for its timeless staircase

Bisca’s timeless bespoke staircase creates the wow factor that so many self builders look for when creating their own individual home.

Its beautiful proportions, combined with great build quality and a thoughtful mix of materials, make it a fantastic statement piece.

Best Community or Group Self Build Initiative

Winner: Lilac Mutual Home Ownership Society

This category, sponsored by Potton’s new Self Build Academy, demonstrates wonderful stories of communities coming together. The winning project stood out for it use of a Mutual Fund to provide sustainable and affordable funding for low impact community housing. The properties were well designed, with a focus on low cost and natural materials for the construction of strawbale and timber homes.

Best Lender for Self Builders

Winner: Furness Building Society

Buildstore, co-founders and major sponsors of the Build It awards, sponsored this category where the winner uses its specialist knowledge of the self build market to offer a flexible and pragmatic approach to lending across the UK. Find Furness in our online guide to the latest self build mortgages

Best Custom-Build Scheme or Initiative

Winner: Stoke-on-Trent City Council

The winner is providing exactly what so many in the UK want – affordable opportunities to self build on land released by local authorities.

Best Innovation in Insulation

Winner: Frame Wise for the Wise Wall T

The winning product allows self builders to achieve extremely efficient homes whilst not affecting the overall style of the property. The U-values this system can help to achieve are extremely impressive and are leading the future of sustainable homes.

Best use of ICF

Winner: Logix for the Tunnards’ home

Pictured left, the winning project’s use of insulating concrete formwork (ICF) and brick cladding has worked jointly to create a traditional style property but with very modern levels of thermal performance.

Read the full story of this grand design that was built on a tight budget

Best Plumbing Product

Winner: Nu-Heat for the LoPro 10 UFH panel

The winner was selected as a great product for retrofitting underfloor heating in existing homes.

Best New Home Technology product

Winner: Geberit’s AquaClean Sela

This product stood above the rest for pure innovation.

Best Glazed Product: Doors

Winner: Green Steps for their triple-glazed lift & slide doors

This bespoke product maintains a relatively slim profile whilst providing great thermal performance.

Best Heating Product

Winner: Total Home Environment for their Genvex Combi 185

The judges were impressed by a heating product that they felt would appeal to many “Empty Nester” self builders that are prepared to invest now to save money in the future. It is at the cutting edge and ideally suited to the new generation of highly insulated homes.

Best Use of Timber Frame

Winner: Baufritz UK for the Pennys’ home

The winners demonstrated a very efficient and low energy home, built using a beautiful palette of natural materials to create a contemporary design.

If you are a company interested in entering the awards, please email Build It magazine for more information.