Schmidt Hammer Lassen Walks Away With Top Gong at 2008 the Emirates Glass Leaf Awards

Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen scooped the top prize at this year’s Emirates Glass Leaf Awards, where the biggest names in architecture from around the world gathered at London’s prestigious Dorchester Hotel.

The Denmark-based architecture firm won the Grand Prix Award, which specifically focuses on projects built between 1 January 2007 and June 2008, at the event hosted by interior designer and television personality, Laurence Llewelyn Bowen.

The awards, which are in their fifth year, now have 11 categories to include the Grand Prix Award, the Residential Building of the Year Award and the New Innovation of the Year Award.

The winners of each category, which celebrate architectural excellence in the fields of innovation, structural and interior design across both private and public sectors, are listed below.

• Mixed-Use Building of the Year, sponsored by The LEAF Review: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects for Performers’ House in Denmark
• Residential Building of the Year (single storey), sponsored by designbuild-network.com: bgp arquitectura for Black House in Mexico
• Residential Building of the Year (multi storey), sponsored by designbuild-network.com: PCKO Architects for eScape in the UK
• Commercial Building of the Year (public), sponsored by Bauporte: Kengo Kuma & Associates for the Suntory Museum of Art in Japan
• Commercial Building of the Year (business), sponsored by Bauporte: John McAslan & Partners for 28 Dorset Square in the UK
• International Interior Design Award, sponsored by Desso: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for GSC Offices in the USA
• Young Architect, sponsored by Vitra: Xavier Vilalta Studio for Arreletes Day-Care Centre in Spain
• Best Sustainable Development, sponsored by German Timber: LSI Architects LLP for Cley Marshes Visitor Centre in the UK
• New Innovation of the Year, sponsored by The Building Centre: WSP Architectural Design Consulting for Long Shan Church in China
• Best Structural Design of the Year, sponsored by Marazzi Group: Foster & Partners for Beijing International Airport Terminal in China
• Grand Prix Winner, sponsored by Emirates Glass: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects for Performers’ House in Denmark

For more information on the Leaf Awards, including how the award were winners were decided by an expert judging panel, click here.

To view this year’s LEAF Award entries see our project page. The faint leaves indicate nominees and the bold leaves winners.

By Ozge Ibrahim