Congratulations Lee Marley Group, Ballymore, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Maccreanor Lavington, Grant Associates, The Brentford Project shortlisted in RIBA London 2026 Awards
There is a particular difficulty in renewing a place that was never neutral to begin with. The Brentford Project occupies ground that has known labour, trade, neglect and expectation in equal measure. To intervene here is to enter into an argument with history, economics and daily life. The success of the scheme lies in the fact that it does not try to win that argument. It listens, then reorganises.
The broader ambition is unmistakable. This is not an isolated waterfront flourish but part of a strategic effort to modernise a civic asset whose value had been under-realised. The High Street, the dock, the proximity of the River Brent are treated as components of a single system rather than fragments. The masterplan restores continuity where there had been rupture. It is less about spectacle than about reinstating coherence.
Working within a reused industrial landscape demands a certain intellectual honesty. Levels shift. Structures resist easy adaptation. Existing fabric carries both charm and constraint. The collaboration between AHMM, Howells and Maccreanor Lavington avoids the temptation to dramatise these tensions. Instead, the old warehouses embedded within Lewis House are absorbed into a larger composition. They are neither fetishised nor erased. They provide weight, a datum against which the new buildings can find proportion.
What impresses me is the composure of the ensemble. Multiple authorship so often produces discord. Here, there is an underlying discipline in massing and material that allows distinct voices to coexist. Brick and steel are not deployed as nostalgic signifiers but as structural logic. The facades carry depth and shadow, acoustic performance and environmental intelligence. They are worked surfaces rather than thin skins.
Lee Marley Group’s role in shaping the brickwork and facade systems is fundamental. Their expertise in complex scaffolding and high risk urban construction underpins the project’s credibility. In dense conditions such as Brentford, quality and safety are inseparable from architectural intent. Craft becomes infrastructure. The subtle modulation of brick planes, the control of junctions, the assurance of execution all contribute to a sense of permanence that cannot be faked.
Modernising an urban asset is rarely about grand gestures. It is about re establishing relationships, clarifying hierarchies, and giving disparate elements a shared rhythm. The Brentford Project achieves this with intelligence and care. It demonstrates that expressive architecture does not require excess, only conviction and judgement.
