Reflecting on the Shattered Glass Awards 2019

The 2019 awards were held at the unique The Magazine Restaurant in Hyde Park, which was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid. It made for a beautiful backdrop for our prestigious awards, as the building is notable in its own right: featuring beautiful curved glass, the architecture was designed to contrast with the sturdy and imposing magazine to which it is attached (and from which it gets its name!) – hence the lightness and fluidity of the structure. 

It is intended to look like a temporary structure, so the solid curved roof recalls a tent in its shape and structure, while the glass walls provide a sense of lightness that suggests it might take off in a strong breeze!

This exceptional space set the scene for our awards, which are always a highlight of the Cantifix calendar year. We had an exclusive guest list of prominent architects, engineers and suppliers from within the industry, and it was certainly a night to remember!

Without further ado, let’s look back on last time’s winners:

Category: Amazing concepts that will never be built

Winner: Eckersley O’Callaghan

Project: 3D printed living space concept for Mars expeditions

Seeking perspectives from outside the traditional aerospace industry, NASA launched a competition to explore how a human habitat could be designed and delivered on Mars using autonomous 3D printing technologies.

Eckersley O’Callaghan’s entry for this unique challenge was a concept that proposed using robots to construct living and working spaces for astronauts on Mars, to be 3D printed from the dust and debris found on the planet’s surface. The design proposed a shell that would protect the astronauts from radiation, as well as micrometeorite strikes.

The intelligent autonomous robots would be sent to Mars a few years before astronauts are due to arrive, and would have interchangeable roles, from battery storage to scout rovers, logistics to excavation and even 3D printing units, all integrated with multiple cameras and sensors for navigation. 

The design moves beyond the idea of astronauts purely as operators, to create a habitat where people will not only survive on Mars, but really thrive there.

This project won our “Amazing Concepts that will Never Be Built” category – for obvious reasons, we’re still some way from realising this incredible concept!

Category: Absurd concepts that somehow went ahead 

Winner: Sir Robert McAlpine 

Project: Frank Gehry’s Tulip building at Battersea Power Station

Frank Gehry’s “The Flower” at Battersea Power Station was our undisputed winner in the “Absurd Concepts that Somehow went Ahead” category.

The scheme, which is the first housing project realised by the Canadian-American architect in the UK, contains two buildings with a total of over 300 homes in a flower-like visual design.

The design of each apartment differs, meaning that no two homes are the same. However, each one has an open-plan layout, access to either a winter garden or terrace, and views over the city.

Externally the buildings feature unique rippled white facades, and are punctuated by large windows. This contrasts with the industrial architecture of the adjacent power station, distinguishing between old and new.Despite, or perhaps because of, its unusual and striking form, the building went ahead and will welcome its first residents later this year. Sir Robert McAlpine managed the construction of this weird and wonderful addition to the famed site.

Category: Innovative concepts, great collaborations 

Winner: SODA and Tier construction 

Project: Walkers Court glass bridge

SODA and Tier were our winners in this category, celebrating the collaborations between us and everyone we work with. Together we come up with some pretty exceptional schemes (for the most part!). 

The winning project was the beautiful Walkers Court glass bridge in Soho, part of a sensitive reimagining of this historic space. 

The stone bridge that once spanned the alleyway was remade for the 21st century as a masterful feat of engineering. Fully-glazed, two-storeys and with no support, the glass bridge over Walkers Court is truly unique. The Boulevard theatre, standing at the heart of this space, is fronted by a 7m glass wall and Cantifix’s first ever curved sliding glass door.

The two-storey glass bridge spanning the building was an ambitious idea to begin with and driven by the client’s vision of “people floating across the space between the foyer and theatre”. We couldn’t manage the “floating”, but we could provide them with a glass solution with no steel supports!

If you’re feeling inspired by these winning entries, then read on…

Looking ahead, the Shattered Glass Awards 2022 are now open for entry! This year’s event will be held on the 24th of November, at the Sky-Frame showroom on Britton Street in London.

This year’s categories are:

Most innovative solution

Most sustainable project

Best use of design to promote wellbeing

Judged by Charlie Sharman of Cantifix, Tim Gledstone from Squire & Partners, and Marco Biancospino of GL&SS, this year’s categories are set to attract the highest calibre of submissions to date.

Find out more and submit your project for consideration here.