AJ 16.12.21: Liverpool

At the end of 2021 – which AJ Editor Emily Booth writes 'hasn’t been an easy year, but the creativity and resilience of the profession continue to shine through' – we devote a special issue ot focus on Liverpool, featuring building studies on The Lexington by Falconer Chester Hall and The Alder Centre by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. Our news features ask if Liverpool can bounce back from a scandal-hit year and investigate housing in Liverpool: ‘We’ve had no strategy for a shrinking city’.

Also in this issue, all the shortlisted entries in our AJ Retrofit Awards 2022, which celebrate design that prolongs and improves the life of buildings as well as all longlisted and shortlisted designs for Pavilion for All, a competition run by the AJ, Argent Related and Barnet Council.

PLUS: Kunle Barker argues we should 'blame the game, not the player – it’s the planning system that’s broken', David Grandorge reports from COP26, Lubaina Himid at Tate Modern, AJ Sketchbook entry from Hamza Shaikh, The Coach, letters, competitions and Louis Hellman's monthly cartoon.

£15.00

AJ 17.09.20: AJ100 2020

Presenting the top 100 architectural practices of 2020! This year’s bumper AJ100 issue has a particular focus on sustainability, with the introduction of two awards in addition to Building of the Year and other prestigious prizes

PLUS more than 50 pages of practice profiles, and new for 2020: meet the 25 disruptors outside the AJ100 that are challenging traditional practice to work more sustainably

£10.00

AJ 18.07.24: Coast

The pull of the sea is strong, particularly at this time of year, and so we focus on coastal possibilities in our July issue.

Our three building studies this month are krft’s curvy arts centre for Brighton College; IF_DO’s retrofit of Hastings’ Observer Building – once a vacant heritage asset, now a vibrant social hub; and a twisting tower in the French town of Le Havre by Hamonic+Masson & Associés.

In News we present a snapshot of impressive – and never before published – seaside houses, but also reflect on deeper challenges faced by coastal communities. Peter Barber introduces his powerful Blueprints for Change proposition: our sea-circled, wind-buffeted, island offers intriguing possibilities for an ‘8,000-Mile Island’. And away from the shore, we take a close-up look at the re-emergence of co-living.

Also in the issue is a behind-the-scenes report of the one-day workshop exploring how M&S’s flagship store on Oxford St could be refurbished and adapted, rather than demolished. And for those looking for further retrofit inspiration, we provide the full shortlists for the AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards 2024.

£16.00

AJ 19.10.17: RIBA Stirling Prize

AJ 19.12.19 Community

The AJ looks at community architecture with a building study on Croydon Youth Zone by John Puttick Associates; five case studies of community-led schemes – from cooking and teaching facilities in London to affordable homes on micro-sites in Bristol; a small architectural intervention to create a social space in Glasgow; and filmmaker-turned-architect Clare Richards talks about her mission to reset the profession’s social agenda.

PLUS Should the UK adopt the Australian NABERS method of assessing building energy efficiency? The events in the world of architecture to look out for in 2020; and our Christmas Quiz tests your recall of another momentous year in architecture. 

£10.00

AJ 20.03.25: Natural Materials

This month's issue demonstrates how building more with natural materials promotes sustainability, circularity- and joyful architecture.

We highlight three projects with natural materials at their core, including Hugh Strange Architects' House on a Hill; David Kohn Architects' sinuous expansion of one of the University of Oxford's oldest colleges; and a community food market in Ilford designed for disassembly by Clark Architecture and Webb Yates.

For further inspiration, a feature ‘Natural materials on site’ showcases five new projects including a rammed earth house by Tuckey Design Studio and a 'net zero' welcome centre built with straw bales by Citizens Design Bureau.

In News, Richard Waite examines how Lina Ghotmeh beat big-name practices to land the British Museum job, while Martha Dillon uncovers the lessons to be learnt from a new 'biophilic' school. As Biodiversity Net Gain passes its first birthday, Anna Highfield looks at how architects are finding the new legislation and asks: is Labour as committed to nature recovery as the Tories?

In Culture, Ellen Peirson visits SOIL at Somerset House, sharing how the exhibition opens our eyes to the world at our feet. Meanwhile, an interview with Mio Tsuneyama spotlights the radical approaches to domesticity by Japanese architects, challenging Tokyo's 'scrap and build' new homes culture.

Also in the issue, The Coach shares how to find recognition at your new practice, Rory Chisholm shares his sketches, and a work by Hellman, A Monument For A Monarch, closes the issue.

£16.00

AJ 20.06.24: AJ100

The AJ100 is back, and this year our award-winners are pushing at the boundaries and encouraging a better way of doing things.

As part of our drive to support and celebrate positive change, new this year is AJ100 Champions, a group of practices moving the dial either in their own projects and working practices, in the wider industry and beyond. The cohort forms our supercharged shortlist for the Practice of the Year award.

In the issue we reveal all the victors of the AJ100 Awards, including Contribution to the Profession winner Kate Macintosh, as well as new categories that celebrate emerging talent within the UK’s largest practices. Our New Talent cohort – celebrating Part 1 and Part 2 architectural assistants and newly qualified architects – inspires and challenges in equal measure.

The latest AJ100 data shows a mixed picture of the sector and, since it was collected, we know several practices have struggled. Architectural fee income is well up, and there are encouraging signs of increased diversity. But there is a slight fall in the numbers of architectural staff, including, most noticeably, architectural assistants.

In Culture, we review a new photographic project pairing every Car of the Year with a building completed in the same year. Opinion pieces by Toko Andrews and Tim O’Callaghan also feature in the issue, as does the monthly competitions round-up, and Hellman’s cartoon on the forthcoming general election.

£16.00

AJ 21.03.24: AI

A detailed look at how architects are using AI: is it a game-changer or a threat?

‘It’s not hyperbole to state that the physical environment of our future cities will be moulded largely by the work of computer scientists ... architects and place-makers must be more than part of the new conversation, they must also become active in the development of this consequential, software-driven shift.’

So says Keir Regan-Alexander in our special issue devoted to how architects are (or aren’t) using artificial intelligence. Also in this must-read edition you can read the results of the AJ’s AI survey, and find out what these new technologies could mean for the future of the profession. Alongside early adopter Keir’s top tips for starting to use AI, there is a round-up of how practices big and small are using it practically, including Child Graddon Lewis and K Bava Architects.

The more ethical aspects of AI are under the spotlight in an essay by Cristina Monteiro on what William Morris would have thought of it (this is also the inspiration for the cover image). And we’ve let ChatGPT write a building study for us on how Foster + Partners’ City Hall could be transformed into social housing, with visuals ‘created’ by Shutterstock AI and muse.ai.

In Culture, senior lecturer Stephen Parnell reveals how his students used Generative AI to resurrect an unpublished Manplan issue of The Architectural Review. There is also an exhibition review of Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist at Palm Springs Art Museum.

The Secret Architect enjoys a think-piece on AI written by an ingratiating colleague, while Martha Dillon opines that real estate AI is a threat to architects.

In non-AI news, we present two building studies: the multi-use Storyteller building in Sidcup by DRDH Architects, and Alma-nac’s orange- and yellow-hued community and co-working space in Tooting.

This month’s Sketchbook showcases the illustrations of Agustin Coll, and we also publish David Grandorge’s take on AI and Hellman’s on the BT Tower’s imminent conversion into a hotel.

£16.00

AJ 21.06.18: RIBA National Awards

The latest AJ features all 49 winners of this year’s RIBA National Awards, ordered into nine sector categories with cultural and higher-education projects particularly plentiful; and we speculate as to which schemes could feature in this year’s Stirling Prize shortlist. PLUS A year after the Grenfell Tower fire, architects discuss why the profession has struggled to find its voice on the disaster; Lendlease chief Jonathan Emery talks about the developer’s roles on controversial estate regeneration projects; and Ellis Woodman on the Sh***y Architecture Men list. 

£10.00

AJ 21.11.19: AJ Architecture Awards

The issue features the winners of the 2019 AJ Architecture Awards with 70 pages of winning schemes covering 18 building categories, including the Manser Medal – AJ House of the Year, as well as the overall Design of the Year, Architect of the Year and Editor’s Choice prizes. 

PLUS Building studies of Hoskins Architects’ Aberdeen City Art Gallery extension and Architype’s Passivhaus-standard secondary school, Harris Academy Sutton; Jonathan Glancey’s obituary of Ted Cullinan; and we meet developer Lendlease’s sustainability head Paul King.

£10.00

AJ 22.02.24: Schools

This month’s issue of the AJ explores a sector in need of drastic, visionary and financial intervention: schools. As editor Emily Booth points out in her introduction, ‘while bold budgetary changes are made with the sweep of a pen at the macro level, each crumbling classroom is a local, micro tragedy’.

In News Anna Highfield delves deeper into this topic, asking whether the Tories’ new rescue package goes far enough to address deteriorating conditions in schools, and what measures a new government might take. Plus, we take a first look at Jamie Fobert’s newly revealed Maggie’s Centre plans.

Our building studies include Rivington Studio’s secondary school at Silvertown - an oasis amid the regeneration of east London’s docklands - and a supportive woodland learning environment by Loader Monteith and Studio SJM. Finally we take a look at Surman Weston’s first self-build project - a strikingly innovative and energy-efficient home that reinvents the terraced house.

Elsewhere the first piece in AJ’s new series, ‘Blueprints for Change’, presents Tom Holbrook’s bold proposition for The Arc – an 100-mile public landscape with water at its heart. The series will give voice to ways architects are challenging the most pressing social and environmental challenges. 

In our Opinion pages Cristina Monteiro explains why we need to talk about social value in architecture, while Toko Andrews asks if specialisation is the way to succeed in the profession. And, in Culture, we explore two new exhibitions: SOAS University of London’s Building Africa and Abstractions: Studies of the National Theatre – photographs of Denys Lasdun’s South Bank masterpiece. 

Finally, in Sketchbook we meet Fatima Mejbil of FAUM Architecture, and Hellman introduces us to RIBA presidential candidate Chris Williamson.

£16.00

AJ 22.06.17: RIBA National Awards

The latest AJ features all 49 winners of this year’s RIBA National Awards, ordered into nine sector categories with cultural and housing projects particularly plentiful; and we speculate as to which schemes might feature in this year’s Stirling Prize shortlist

PLUS As revelations continue to emerge of just how preventable the Grenfell Tower tragedy was, we present five questions about the fire that need to be answered; and as the heatwave continues, we look at Francis Kéré’s newly opened Serpentine Pavilion and the seven shortlisted designs for Edinburgh’s Ross Pavilion

£20.00

AJ 22.08.19: Schools

The latest AJ features building studies of three schools projects: Allies and Morrison’s van Hasselt Centre at Cranleigh School in Surrey; Northampton International Academy by Architecture Initiative; and a new building for Kingswood School in Bath by Stonewood Design. PLUS One year on, is the architecture apprenticeship scheme failing to open up the profession; and as PLP’s 22 Bishopsgate tower nears completion, founding partner Karen Cook talks about the scheme’s two-decade evolution.

£10.00

AJ 22.11.18: Heritage

The latest AJ features three cultural projects within existing buildings: Haworth Tompkins’ restoration of Battersea Arts Centre; the V&A Photography Centre by David Kohn Architects; and DRDH’s Site Gallery in Sheffield. PLUS In conversation with Amin Taha; how practices are facing higher insurance premiums post-Grenfell fire; reaction to Roger Scruton’s appointment as ‘housing tsar’; and Paul Finch praises Archigram’s place in our cultural heritage.

£10.00

AJ 23.02.23: Ways of practising

Architecture as activism is the thread that runs through the February edition of the AJ. We feature three examples of simple projects on modest budgets that have made a substantial impact: a skate bowl in Devon by IDK; North West Design Collective and Baxendale’s refurbishment of a Preston charity building; and a community centre by Leeds Beckett Project Office.

You can also read building studies of central London’s tallest mass timber office structure, designed by Waugh Thistelton, and Nest House, built with Studio Bark’s open-source timber flatpack system.

Our news feature this month focuses on some of the projects funded by architect-led charity Footwork, including the mass retrofit of listed homes in Yorkshire and a learning centre for refugees in east London.

In Culture, we meet the seven women behind the 1:100 Architecture Podcast to discuss their experiences as architecture graduates and women of colour, and review an exhibition of work by not-for-profit design and research practice Material Cultures.

Also in this issue you can find the AJ Retrofit Awards 2023 shortlists; columns by Kunle Barker, Dan Anderson and David Grandorge; Sketchbook by Katy Marks; and Hellman’s take on the row over Herzog & de Meuron’s Liverpool Street plans.

£16.00

AJ 23.05.24: Belgium

The Belgium issue offers a deep dive into why this perhaps unlikely country has become a happy hunting ground for UK-based architects. As editor Emily Booth observes in her introduction, 'centuries of shared trade and cultural history over the choppy North Sea mean the similarities and the links with the UK run deep' - but it is the substantial opportunities for work that are the real draw for the UK's practices today.

In a special projects round-up, we explore these opportunities through the work of UK names currently working in Belgium, including Counterspace, DRDH and David Chipperfield Architects. Meanwhile, our building studies include the retrofit of a fire station, and the transformation of an industrial building into a residential development by local practices ATAM and Notan Office, respectively.

In News we reveal the 2024 AJ100 Awards Shortlist, including Practice of the Year and Employer of the Year. We also meet director of the Flanders Architecture Institute Sofie De Caigny, and explore Maccreanor Lavington's plans for a post-'Brusselisation' retrofit scheme.

In Culture, Florian Heilmeyer reviews Rotor, a book exploring the works of artist-turned-builder Marcel Raymaekers, while an essay from Ellis Woodman sings the praises of the Flanders-style open call.

Elsewhere David Grandorge explores what's changing in Belgium - and what is not in the UK - while The Coach answers burning questions on redundancy, including what do next if it happens to you.

This month's sketchbook comes curtesy of Robert Coz, director at ADAM Architecture and the latest Hellman takes aim Kier Starmer's grey belt development plans.

£16.00

AJ 23.07.20: Student special

This 120-page issue presents the work of students nominated for this year’s AJ Student Prize, including both undergraduate and postgraduate projects as well as a sustainability category. We also review five end-of-year online exhibitions at architecture schools across the UK which are leading the way in sustainability. 

PLUS AJ Sketchbook from London School of Architecture graduate Daniel Barrett; Paul Finch's opinion on the inevitable failure of beauty committees; Q&A with RIBA President election 2021 candidates; and the results of the AJ race diversity survey

£8.00