ACME had the pleasure to mark International Women’s Day 2025 with the Earls Court Development Company.

Earls Court has always been a stage for pioneers—a place where ideas have sparked and change takes root. From the suffragettes who fought for equality to the trailblazers who redefined culture, women have shaped history here.

Zoe Dando, ECDC Head of Branding, celebrated some of the extraordinary stories of the trailblazers who made their mark in and around Earls Court.  Sharon Giffen, ECDC Head of Design, delivered a touching insight into her personal connection to Earls Court and shared her career highlights and challenges of working in the built environment. Lauren Currie OBE, founder of UPFRONT, led a powerful session on owning your voice in the toughest rooms. Challenging the status quo often comes with resistance—but real change only happens when we dare to question, challenge, and lead with conviction.

ECDC are partnering with UPFRONT to deliver the ECDC Bond, and invite all women from the Earls Court project and design teams to sign up. ECDC Bond is a 6 week online, transformative confidence-building program tailored specifically for women.

Sign up here!

ACME Director, Friedrich Ludewig, will be attending MIPIM 2025 in Cannes this March.

If you’ll be at MIPIM and would like to meet, feel free to reach out via email or via our contact page here.

Wishing all those who celebrate a very happy Lunar New Year.

ACME celebrated the start of the Year of the Snake with a lunch of traditional tossed salad, 400 handmade dumplings, Chinese snacks and sweets as well as a calligraphy tutorial.

Thank you to the team for their incredible effort to get the Lunar New Year off to a great start.

 

 

RIBA Canterbury and District will be touring Shoreline in Folkestone on 6th February 2025.

Located prominently on the Folkestone beachfront is Shoreline, a contemporary take on the traditional Edwardian curved terrace and the first phase of the Folkestone Seafront & Harbour masterplan. Shoreline is the first step in creating a vibrant new community along the historic seafront.

Shoreline is a collection of 84 houses and apartments inspired by Kent's rich architectural heritage, with uninterrupted beach views across the sea, stretching as far as the French coastline on a clear day.

ACME Director, James Denner, will be leading the group around the residential scheme talking through the design inspiration and the building's place in the context of the wider Folkestone redevelopment.

More information here.

ACME's Founding Director, Friedrich Ludewig, joins a design panel discussion on Innovation & Placemaking with China Resources Land in Xi'an, China, 

The panel questions the changing future of retail and discusses positioning strategies to keep pace with innovation. Placemaking is increasingly vital, with retail experiences woven into transit-oriented, park-oriented, cultural and community-focused developments.

What is the future of retail and luxury?

ACME was delighted to be awarded twice at China Resources Land (CR Land) Design Conference in Xi'an, China. We are honoured to receive awards for high-quality work in both Architecture and Interior Design for an upcoming mixed-use scheme in Shenzhen, China.

More on this project coming in the future!

ACME is in Singapore for the opening of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (TPRS) Design Competition exhibition hosted by Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority. ACME was awarded 3rd prize for our design proposal to re-imagine the site. Our submission was praised for its strong and coherent vision, supported by innovative concepts to adaptively reuse the railway station as a vibrant and inclusive multi-functional community building. 

The exhibition, held at the URA Centre in Singapore, was opened by Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for National Development, and Second Minister for Finance who made the opening address and toured the exhibition.

Read more about the competition here.

Read about future plans for London's Earls Court in Joanna Partridge's piece in The Guardian.

The landscape-led scheme for the 40-acre site is currently in for planning and will unlock the dormant West London site. It will be transformed with an expansive central park with vital east-west connections surrounded by new cultural venues, workspace and c.4000 new homes for Londoners.

As part of Earls Court Development Company's design team, ACME designed the illustrative workspace buildings within the masterplan. This includes the main commercial building at the scheme's heart and the iconic entrance gateway facing Earls Court tube station.

Stay tuned for more details this year!

ACME would like to thank our clients, consultants and friends for their trust and commitment this year.

Warmest wishes for a joyous and restful holiday season and a bright new year. We look forward to working with you in 2025!

ACME London, ACME Berlin and ACME Madrid will be closed from 25.12.24 and reopen on 02.01.2025.

ACME London Employee Trustee Director Monica Capitanio attended the annual EOA Conference this week at the Telford International Centre to gain insights, swap knowledge, and connect with other Employees' Trustees of Employee-Owned companies.

As Employee Trustee, Monica works in partnership with Vojtech Nemec to contribute meaningfully to discussions, act as a voice for ACME employee's collective interests, and ensure that our workplace remains inclusive and supportive.

Shoreline, Folkestone has won two awards in the 2024 WhatHouse? Awards. The crescent shaped residential block is collection of 84 houses and apartments with spectacular views out to sea and along the Kent coast.

Rupert Bates, editorial director of What House? and Show House magazine said, “It was a magnificent celebration of the very best new homes in Britain. The quality of the entries, yet alone the winners, was quite exceptional – testimony to industry excellence, with some great housebuilders and developments just missing out on awards this year,”

Shoreline, Folkestone won Best Development - Gold and Best Luxury House - Silver. 

More on Shoreline here

 

 

We are delighted to announce that ACME's Igor Gola is a guest speaker at Pietra Kucha brought to you by The Stone Collective. The evening is about celebrating the beauty, versatility and sustainability of stone.

ACME's presentation will feature Goetheplatz 1, Frankfurt - 1st Prize - Competition Winner.

Network Rail will be running an online public consultation where you can find out more about the plans for London Liverpool Street and have the opportunity to ask the team any questions you have.

The session will take place on Wednesday 20th November 10-11am

To attend, sign up via the link here

The restoration of Folkestone’s Leas Lift is one step closer with Apex's appointment as the principal contractor. Apex will now work alongside the Leas Lift project team to prepare the site for construction.

"ACME is delighted that work on the Leas Lift restoration project will soon begin on site, following the appointment of contractor Apex. We will continue our work leading the design team, initially coordinating the design from Apex's specialist subcontractors in parallel with site preparation before construction begins in earnest in early 2025."

Mark Broom, Associate Director - ACME

“From the moment we had the opportunity to work on the Leas Lift restoration project, our whole team have been excited about being involved in bringing a local landmark with national importance back into public use. Helping the Folkestone Leas Lift Company Charity and their passionate supporters restore the lift to its former glory, 140 years after it was first installed, aligns perfectly with our values. We are committed to working together and using the construction process itself as an opportunity to educate, inspire, engage and serve the local community. We can’t wait to get started!”

Dan Hollis, Managing Director at Apex

Find out more about the Leas Lift and it's rich history here. 

Network Rail Property launches consultation on new plans to transform Britain’s busiest station.

ACME is working with Network Rail Property to bring forward new proposals for Liverpool Street Station. The new scheme is based on a thorough understanding of the operational needs of the station and its historic significance. The original 1864 station and its 1991 reconfiguration are remarkable for their cathedral-like concourse and train shed, and the new concourse roof extends this language into the 21st century.

“Working with Network Rail Property, we are creating a transport hub that will work for the city and all Londoners. The 1990s saw a few stations such as Victoria, Cannon Street and Charing Cross compromised by Over-Station Development. At Liverpool Street, we will retain the sense of a tall and airy concourse, with a flexible workplace building above to fund the development of the station at street level,” said Friedrich Ludewig, Founding Director, ACME.

 

Read more here

The Haydon has been shortlisted for AJ Architecture Awards 2024!

We’re delighted that this project has been named as one of the finalists in the ‘Housing project £40 million and over’ category. 

The Haydon is a contemporary residential building in the heart of the City of London with 87 apartments offering far-reaching panorama views across London. Set within the Minories site, it is surrounded by a rich and complex local history which was the inspiration for ACME’s design. 

Winners for the prestigious award will be announced at a ceremony in London in early December.

For a full list of the housing shortlist click here.

We are happy to share that two ACME designed residential schemes, Shoreline, Folkestone, and The Haydon, City of London, have won Best Flat and Best Luxury Home, respectively, in the 33rd edition of the New Homes Awards.

The awards recognise, celebrate, and commend innovation and excellence in today’s new homes so we are delighted to see these projects recognised in both categories.

Best Luxury Home: The Haydon 

Best New Flat: Shoreline

Read more about the awards here.

ACME Directors, Tim Laubinger and Heidrun Schuhmann will be attending the upcoming Expo Real 2024 Conference in Munich from October 7-8.

ACME is proud to be part of The Earls Court Development Company design team and celebrates this planning validation milestone with the entire team. 

Earls Court has a long history as a place of discovery, adventure, and performance. ACME has been entrusted to design illustrative workspace buildings in the masterplan, including the main commercial building at the heart of the scheme and the iconic entrance gateway facing Earls Court tube station.

We have worked intensively with SLA to create green buildings within a green urban landscape, with generous outside terraces and a new public space inspired by the remnants of the old Art Deco steps of the original building apron. 

While the original Earls Court building has disappeared, the new buildings are designed to celebrate the memory of its cultural performances on their facades. We are excited to see our buildings and their role within the broader context of the masterplan. We look forward to working with The Earls Court Development Company to deliver a fitting new entrance into the masterplan and outstanding workspaces for Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.  

See project here

ACME is awarded 3rd prize from Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority for its design proposal to re-imagine the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (TPRS). ACME's submission stood out for its strong and coherent vision, supported by innovative concepts to adaptively reuse the railway station as a vibrant and inclusive multi-functional community building. 

Jury's comments: "The scheme challenged the imagination in creating new opportunities for the public to appreciate the TPRS building in ways that were not originally intended, and was bold and ambitious in allowing the community to explore different parts of the building that were not accessible nor exposed given its former use. This scheme has pushed the boundaries in modifying the interior spaces of the TPRS building by removing the original second floor hotel rooms within the main railway station building to create a bright and inviting arrival courtyard to the central hall. It also proposed the removal of more recent additions such as the floor slabs and rear hotel extensions within the building to create a double-volume gallery space and sunset terrace respectively. The overall scheme was thought-provoking and prompts discussions of what design strategies can legitimately be employed, and which historical features of the building should be retained or allowed to be altered without affecting its architectural integrity, while the building is put to a new use."

We look forward to the public exhibition which will be held in January 2025.

See project here

Shoreline, Folkestone is awarded British Home Awards 2024: Apartment Development of the Year - Highly Commended

More details here

Congratulations to the team!

Client: Folkestone Harbour Seafront Development Company
Engineering: BuroHappold 
QS: Betteridge & Milsom 
Planning: Savills
Landscape: Spacehub 
Interior Design: 8 Holland Street 
Construction: Jenner Group 

Project information here

ACME is honoured to have two residential schemes, Shoreline and The Haydon nominated for this year's British Home Awards.

Shoreline is shortlisted for Regeneration Scheme of the Year; Development of the Year (20-100 homes); and Apartment Development of the Year

The Haydon is shortlisted for Apartment Development of the Year

Congratulations to all involved!

 More information here

MM:NT Berlin has won a Skift IDEA Award! The awards recognise excellence in design, creativity, and innovation in the travel industry. MM:NT received this coveted award for rethinking how the hospitality industry approaches innovation.

Skift said of the project, "This innovative, digital-first ‘lab’ enables the continuous testing/reconfiguration of the hospitality experience, including design, amenities, and sustainable materials, with real-time-feedback from guests. MM:NT has conducted a two-month experiment where guests were crowdsourced via social media and invited to stay for free and provide real-time qualitative feedback.

By recreating fully functional hotel rooms in a controlled, yet public, lab environment and using an agile, iterative process typically seen in software development, TFE can test new configurations, designs, and sustainable products in a live feedback loop, providing the opportunity to adapt hotel designs and bring them to market quicker – something not usually possible when opening a traditional hotel."

Find out more about this project here.

It's Keigo Yoshida's 14th year with the practice!  Keigo reflects on his time at ACME to date...

Most challenging ACME project?
Stratford Pavilion: Highly complex in terms of coordination, with everything being bespoke and nothing repetitive.

Most enjoyable projects at ACME?

A few highlights include:
Nollendorfplatz: We won 2nd prize in the international design competition, and this project became a milestone and a trigger for ACME to design more with stone.
H1 Elephant Park: Designing our largest timber building and detailing the complex facade with simple logic.
Swansea Arena: Designing elements that could only be done at the Swansea Arena.

Most rewarding project to date?
Leeds MSCP: This was my first built project, and I was involved from beginning to end. The work has been celebrated with numerous industry awards.

What are you currently working on?
Goetheplatz 1: a new office building in the heart of Frankfurt

3 things you most admire about the practice
In 2010, ACME hired me even though I could not communicate in English!
ACME provides ongoing opportunities for everyone to challenge themselves.
We take on unique projects that not everyone can do.

Thank you for your 14 years of service, Keigo.

When the sun is out and the temperatures are soaring there's no one better to call on to run cooking club than Monica Capitanio.

Monica is the brains behind our studio tradition that started back in 2019. The theme for cooking club 15 was Italian Summer. Monica took inspiration from her Italian roots to prepare 3 different types bruschetta, each an exquisite combination of flavours, complimented by a babyleaf and olive salad. We'll be thinking about this one until the leaves turn.

Thank you Monica and everyone who helped make it happen.

Canopy by Hilton London City has been named Best Luxury Lifestyle Hotel in London in the Luxury Lifestyle Awards!

The 340-room hotel, is part of the multi-million-pound Minories development in Aldgate East, that champions the local neighbourhood and celebrates London's East End.

More details here.

Daedalus Waterfront is Planning Awards 2024 - mixed-use development winner! The Planning Awards recognise outstanding work in planning and placemaking so we are honoured to see the project recognised.

We worked with Homes England and Daedalus Development Company (JV w/ MurrayTwohig, Patron Capital, Orwell Real Estate) and the wider team to create the scheme.

The Daedalus Waterfront scheme is an ambitious project that sees a largely abandoned navy base in Lee-on-Solent reimagined with a design-led industrial innovation strategy. The masterplan includes employment work and light industrial spaces to attract new businesses and jobs to the area as well as 350 private and affordable homes. Alongside housing and commercial space, new services and facilities will be provided for the local community, opening up the ex-military site to the public and providing public parks and new pedestrian routes.

Central to the vision is the restoration of the historic buildings, including the WWI hangars that face the Solent strait. These will act as a catalyst for economic development, a gateway to the project and an upgraded home for the Hovercraft Museum that sits on the existing site.
Read more about the project here.

We got our steps in with a lunch time walk to 22 Bishopsgate to visit their Horizon 22 viewing platform organised by our wellness team.

Up 58 levels in 41 seconds, we enjoyed feeling like we were in Google Earth, looking over London landmarks and even identifying the ACME Minories site.

We hosted our LFA open studio, welcoming friends, collaborators and anyone curious to our Tabernacle Street home.

We had a great time showing off our work, with images, videos, models and samples! The team was on hand to show our guests around and talk them through our projects and the various prototypes on show in our space.

When the sun went down our resident DJ, Stefano, hit the decks to close out the evening.

Thank you to everyone who came along.

Earls Court Development Company and ACME are working in partnership with Young City Makers on a programme that introduces primary school students to the built environment sector and challenges them to consider the role they each play in shaping their city.

Following completion of Open City’s Youth Engagement Training, Hanna Blazheieva and Teshan Seneviratne have partnered with Park Walk Primary School and, over the course of three sessions, support students in developing a vision for a future London.

As part of the programme, ACME hosted Year 5 Park Walk Primary School students on a City of London architecture walk, followed by a visit to Florattica rooftop bar, Canopy by Hilton, London City, to learn more about architecture, interiors, and materiality.

Presenting Keigo's Cooking Club, the Japan edition of our office cooking club!

On the lunch menu was Curry Udon a delicious and satisfying and slurpy noodle dish unsuitable for anyone wearing white. The whole team shared the carefully prepared dish by Keigo and Li on site in our London studio.

A huge thanks to the ACME Social Team for making time and bringing us together!

Holder of eight Michelin stars, Gordon Ramsay has opened the 6th London branch of his popular Bread Street Kitchen in the ACME designed 'Pavilion' at 9 Endeavour Square in Stratford.

The Pavilion is a landmark building on the Square at the intersection of the Olympic Park, Stratford and the East Bank - the emerging East London cultural and education district.

The Pavilion is conceived as a folded public space, a ‘vertical piazza’. Stairs, balconies and amphitheatres invite exploration; a place to gather, relax and enjoy views of the East Bank and the Olympic Park from the rooftop. Bread Street Kitchen will take over 10,000 sq ft of the space and span all three levels, including 3,000 sq ft of the rooftop for a bar and al-fresco dining space with views across the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and East Bank Cultural quarter.

Andy Wenlock, chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, said: “The bold vision for Stratford Cross is what initially attracted Gordon and I to the destination. Spending time within its energetic, creative neighbourhood and inclusive community, there is no doubt it is an ideal home for us. The jewel in Stratford Cross’ crown is certainly the Pavilion building, creating a striking location for a brand-new flagship Bread Street Kitchen & Bar.”

We’re cycling from London to Brighton in support of British Heart Foundation!

Eleni Meladaki, César Cruz Gómez, Stefano Dal Piva, Jan Macbean and Keigo Yoshida will tackle the 54 mile route from Clapham Common to The Brighton Beach front on Sunday 16 June to raise funds for vital research on heart and circulatory diseases.

Support them and BHF's lifechanging research here

£300 could help buy a six months’ supply of tiny molecules that light up under a microscope. These are used by researchers to see what’s going on inside our hearts.

£500 could help fund a research programme for a full day. Led by an up-and-coming scientist in a busy lab with their own group of researchers.

£1,000 could help buy a brand-new piece of equipment that helps biologists identify molecules linked to coronary heart disease and vascular dementia.

Every little bit counts, thank you for your support.

We're opening our doors for the 2024 London Festival of Architecture as part of their open studios programme. On Thursday 27th June you can come and explore our studio where you'll be able to meet our team and see some of our work first hand.

We'll be showcasing ongoing and completed projects as well as presenting our expertise in designing with sustainable materials including timber and stone.

Copr Bay, Swansea, is the winner of the 2024 Dewi-Prys Thomas Award!

Announced at last night's RSAW architecture awards ceremony, the Dewi-Prys Thomas Award recognises the importance of good design to the quality of life, identity and regeneration of Wales.

Congratulations to all involved!

ACME celebrates the official opening of the Haydon Gardens with the Aldgate Community Garden Club! Lady Mayoress of the City of London, Elisabeth Mainelli, inaugurated The Haydon Gardens which is run by the Aldgate Community Garden Club.

Haydon Gardens is a generous new green heart to the Minories development. Designed by Spacehub, it comprises of a tranquil planted courtyard crafted with high-quality granite and Yorkstone materials—synonymous with the City of London—and are bordered with open lawn areas and children’s play space. The gardens feature diverse native and ornamental planting, with 24 new trees, including beautiful specimens of sweet flowering cherry, grey alder and rowan. A new access route to Aldgate High Street has been integrated within the landscape for the neighbours in the Guinness Trust Estate. This route overcomes challenging topography and simultaneously creates a dramatic woodland garden environment. Importantly, the area provides dedicated growing space for the green-thumbed Aldgate Community Garden Club!

CLIENT: 4C Group
Architecture: ACME
Landscape Architecture: Spacehub
Developer, Construction: Regal London

 

Each year ACME takes part in the Architects Benevolent Society's 5km fun run event - raising awareness and funds to help those need with in the architectural community.

Congratulations to this year's ACME runners - Luwam, Teshan, Sakariye, Jan, Vojtech and Lana - amazing efforts!

Support via Just Giving here

For Mental Health Awareness Week, the Architects Benevolent Society x ACME participate in Bake the World a Better Place Day.

Thank you to ACME's Wellbeing team and our fabulous bakers - Keigo Yoshida, Lana Fattah César Cruz Gómez, Malin Bergman Purwanto, Nicholas Chrysostomou and Lizy Huyghe - for organizing this event!

See information on Architects Benevolent Society support services here

 

City Plan 2040: Heritage event, celebrates the City’s historic environment and explores the pivotal role that heritage can play in placemaking, the economy, and well-being.

Leading practitioners in the field join a panel discussion. Friedrich Ludewig, ACME, along with Deborah Saunt, DSDHA, Dr. Sadie Watson, MOLA and Fred Drabble, Shaw Corporation, will share their case studies, celebrating the City’s Heritage.

Friedrich discusses the Still & Star in the Minories, London. The Still & Star, a Public House first noted in 1730 as a gin palace and slum pub, will be rebuilt in green pigmented concrete on Aldgate High Street as a gin distillery with a botanical herb farm, preserving an imprint of its history.

City Plan 2040 is the City Corporation’s vision for how the Square Mile will develop up to 2040. 

James Denner will be attending the upcoming British Council for Offices (BCO) 2024 Conference in Birmingham.

Please get in touch with us if you would like to meet and have a coffee during the conference.

Malin Bergman Purwanto and Lana Fattah, representing ACME's Sustainability Task Group, attend this year's FOOTPRINT+ London's Property Event for a Zero Carbon Future.

Day 1 highlights include:
08:30 - Breakfast Briefing Sweco: Delivering on the promise of sustainable timber construction at The Timber Stage
11:30 - Towards a new stone architecture at Material Future Stage
13:45 - Metropolis: Mass Timber hybrid extension delivering high-value workspace at The Timber Stage
16:00 - Zero Carbon development embraces the circular economy at Retrofit Agenda Stage

Over the last few months,  ACME has participated in the London School of Architecture's (Un) Building programme for 13-16 year olds. The LSA developed the outreach programme in collaboration with RIBA and LIFT Futures as part of the National Saturday Club.

Over a series of Saturday design workshops, students are supported to develop their proposed designs and create 1:50 physical models and orthographic drawings for presenting to local stakeholders. As part of this process, students learn some of the fundamental skills required by designers to develop and present their design ideas.

A huge thanks to ACME team - Teshan Seneviratne, Monica Capitanio and Hanna Blazheieva for making time on their weekends for this important outreach programme - inspiring future architects and designers!

Friedrich and Heidrun will be attending the upcoming UKREiiF conference.

Please get in touch with us if you would like to meet and have a coffee during the conference. 

For bookings with Friedrich, please contact: ja@acme.ac

For bookings with Heidrun, please contact ra@acme.ac

 

Congratulations to Monica Capitanio for being elected as ACME London's Employee Trustee Director!

As a dedicated 11-year ACME employee, Monica brings a good understanding of the company's culture and operations and a strong collaborative spirit. 

As Employee Trustee, she will work in partnership with Vojtech Nemec to contribute meaningfully to discussions, act as a voice for ACME employee's collective interests, and ensure that our workplace remains inclusive and supportive for all employees.

 

We are thrilled to announce that REWE Green Farming has been awarded as a 2024 Civic Trust Awards winner!

Judges’ Comments: “The modular and sustainable supermarket architecture, coupled with the aquaponic rooftop farm, sets a new standard for the industry, aligning with the growing demand for responsible and community-oriented retail spaces.”

More details here

Following an invited international design competition with six architectural practices, ACME has emerged with the winning scheme for Goetheplatz 1.

“ACME is delighted to have convinced the competition jury with our entry. Our design celebrates Goetheplatz and will create a new sculptural civic building with a load-bearing vaulted stone façade in the heart of Frankfurt. Sustainability is at the centre of the client’s and future tenants’ requirements and ACME will achieve this by reusing materials and building in timber and stone, with the aim of developing a building with the lowest carbon footprint in Frankfurt.”

Friedrich Ludewig, Founding Director - ACME

REWE Green Farming has been nominated for the 2024 Civic Trust Awards!

Winners will be revealed at the 65th Annual Civic Trust Awards Ceremony on 22nd March 2024.

REWE Green Farming will be featured "Da! Architecture in and from Berlin" Exhibition, running from March 15 to April 13, 2024. Curated by the Berlin Chamber of Architects, this event celebrates forward-thinking initiatives shaping the future, featuring 60 outstanding works from Berlin and beyond. Selected as one of the showcased projects, REWE Green Farming proudly presents its innovative approach to modernizing food markets.

Addressing the disconnect between consumers and their food sources, REWE Green Farming offers a fresh perspective on the traditional marketplace. In a world dominated by online shopping and supermarkets, this initiative redefines the shopping experience, emphasizing local, fresh, and seasonal produce.

ACME had attended MIPIM, and anticipated the chance to reconnect with familiar faces and foster new relationships within the built environment.

ACME London opened its doors to students from the London Design and Engineering UTC, inviting them to delve into the journey career in architecture. The event provided invaluable first-hand experiences through engaging architectural workshops and an office tour, led by including Juan, Lana, Teshan, Wendy Smith, and Ann.

Swansea Arena has been shortlisted for the Royal Society of Architects in Wales Award – the first stage of the region’s RIBA Awards 2024!

“Swansea Arena has become an iconic sight at a key gateway in and out of Swansea city centre both during daylight hours and after dark. This is testament to the quality of the building’s design, so it’s really encouraging that the arena has now been shortlisted for a major architectural award. Along with the Copr Bay bridge and coastal park, the arena has helped greatly improve links between the city centre and the maritime quarter and waterfront for pedestrians and cyclists, while also acting as a catalyst for further investment in our city."

Cllr Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader

 

ACME is featured in Metro Properties "Space for Future-Shapers" book discussing the design vision for Metro Campus - a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood quarter in Düsseldorf.

Read interview with ACME Directors, Friedrich Ludewig and Tim Laubinger here: German / English

View project here

 

We welcome in the Year of the Wood Dragon with a delicious shared lunch commencing with Yusheng, a Prosperity Toss.

A huge thanks to the ACME Social Team for organising this!

Project Lead, Eleni Meladaki, takes the ACME team on a site visit to The Haydon, a high-end 87 apartment residential scheme - the second ACME designed building to complete as part of the Minories masterplan in City of London.

View project here

ACME London spends the afternoon in Folkestone, with a building tour of Shoreline Crescent to celebrate its completion.

View project here

As 2023 nears to an end, ACME would like to thank our clients, consultants, colleagues and friends, with whom we have shared design ambitions, success and milestone achievements.

We wish you all a restful break and look forward to working with you in 2024!

ACME Founding Director, Friedrich Ludewig is part of the 2023 Super Jury at the World Architecture Festival in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore this week.

This year's programme theme is 'Catalyst' - Architecture and design can be catalysts for beneficial change, because they can enable, accelerate or inspire interaction across our entire built environment, to the benefit of both individuals and institutions.

More info here 

ACME Berlin team take on an indoor rock climbing challenge as part of their monthly social events.

Thank you to Sheena Seeley and Ben Charlton for organizing this!

As Florattica celebrates its first birthday we are thrilled to announce this bespoke rooftop bar has been awarded the Nightclub/Lounge 2023 Winner at the 43rd Annual Gold Key Awards!

Celebrating excellence in hospitality design, the Gold Key Awards is the industry’s oldest awards program.

More information here 

Florattica at Canopy by Hilton, London City is the winner of this year's UK Property Awards - Hotel Bar Interior category!

Congratulations to the committed team for transforming a beautiful concept into reality.

View project here.

ACME's basement space transforms into a yoga studio for an hour of stretching, relaxation and unwinding at the end of the day.

We had the pleasure of welcoming back Eleonora Usseglio Prinsi in her new role as founder of Re-Set-Pause to lead a Hatha Yoga session. Many thanks to ACME's Wellbeing team for facilitating this event.

Leas Lift, Folkestone, has secured £4.8m heritage funding enabling the Victorian cliff-side funicular lift, first opened in 1885, to be brought back to life. The rare surviving water lift is one of only three to survive in the UK. It operates using water and gravity and will be restored to its former glory to carry passengers between the seaside and the town. 

ACME is thrilled to be part of this restoration project and is progressing with RIBA Stage 4 working towards a reopening date of 2025.

More details here

Daedalus Waterfront, Lee-on-the-Solent has received unanimous planning approval. The historic 42-acre waterfront site will be brought back to life once again with 24,500sqm industrial use, 5,200sqm workspace, and 346 much-needed mixed-tenure homes, 76 of which will be refurbishments of the existing heritage buildings including the historic barracks square.

Central to the scheme is the restoration of the historic buildings, including the WWI hangars. These will act as a gateway; and will become the upgraded home for The Hovercraft Museum and a new public space for local events.

ACME has enjoyed working with Homes England and Daedalus Development Company on this regeneration project and is excited to see it progress to the next stage.

More information here.

ACME is very grateful for our team's contributions to practice. We are delighted to announce this year's promotions as follows:

Lizy Huyghe becomes an Associate Director - ACME London

Thomas Soo becomes an Associate - ACME London

César Cruz Gómez becomes a Senior Architect - ACME London

Dirk Mueller becomes an Associate - ACME Berlin

Congratulations!

Pre-completion preview of The Haydon, City of London

An interplay of light and shadow - the building’s stepped massing responds to its surroundings cantilevering out up to four metres, creating an extremely high ratio of stepped terraces. A 3D play with an impression of randomness, while adhering to strict structural grid lines of the frame that carry the cantilever loads efficiently to the base.

Situated within London's Minories, adjacent to Canopy by Hilton London City Hotel.

Due for completion 2024.

Victoria Gate, Leeds features in BBC Sounds radio 4 series, Building Soul with Thomas Heatherwick.

Listen here.

View project here.

Copr Bay Bridge wins the Structural Steel Design Awards 2023!

BCSA judges' note, "The Copr Bay Bridge provides a dramatic new gateway to Swansea, with its striking form and colour acknowledging the Bay’s history as a centre of coal and copper production. Of particular note are the innovative stressed skin design and the quality of the manufacturing which have resulted in an exemplary project."

More information here.

Florattica at Canopy by Hilton, London City with its expansive rooftop terrace and bespoke floral ceiling installation has been shortlisted for 2023 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards in two categories - hotel and ceiling design.

Awards ceremony: 19 October 2023 

Congratulations to ACME + Spacehub for being selected in the winning teams for Muslim Academy, Heidelberg.

Muslim Academy is a place for education, cultural exchange and insight into Islamic history. A powerful arch structure anchors the building, with arches and vaults clad in Heidelberg sandstone, in red hue characteristic of the local cityscape. Inside and outside spaces flow, as the difference in levels is used creatively to integrate steps in the foyer with auditorium, exhibitions, restaurant and café at ground level.

Throughout, academy gardens create moments of pause between various functional areas of education, work, sleep and prayer. The upper volumes and internal gardens are unified by the building façade, an ornamental geometric perforated metal skin which allows light in and facilitates illumination at night.

It was a pleasure to welcome City of London Academy Shoreditch Park's Year 10 Students this week, as part of The London School of Architecture's Part 0 programme. Students learnt about various pathways into architecture, tested out ACME's 1-to-1 prototypes throughout our studio, and got some hands on experience with AI digital design tools - hopefully sparking interest for future designers!

Thank you to Taro Bean, Michel Bosauder, Amanda Callaghan, Ryan Hart,  Maria Perez Vera and Anatolios Stathiou for sharing your career pathway stories.

Delighted to receive planning and listed building consent for the restoration of Folkestone's Grade II* listed Leas Lift. It is another step closer to bringing the water balanced funicular lift back to working life, reconnecting Folkestone to the seafront via a scenic ride down the Leas cliff.

ACME's design includes a new café situated to the west of the original Leas Lift waiting rooms designed by Reginald Pope, restoring a sense of symmetry lost when the pump room was built to the east in 1890.

More information here.

Over the last few months ACME has been working in partnership with Year 5 students from Larmenier & Sacred Heart Primary School as part of Open City Architecture in Schools programme with The Earls Court Development Company.

We've had inspirational site visits across the City of London, followed by sketching and modelmaking ideas workshops to help create a vision for Earls Court. A huge congratulations to the Year 5 students who have been awarded First Prize for the Best Model for their ideas on how to bring back the wonder to Earls Court.

ACME designed Pavilion, Stratford is showcased as part of The New Together exhibition at Casa Platform in Venice.

More details here

We welcome Amanda and Vojtech into their new roles as ACME's first Employee Trustee Directors!

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to represent ACME Employees in this way and looking forward to learning with others how becoming an EOT can help to enhance ACME as an exceptional place to work.” 

Amanda Callaghan, Senior Architect & Employee Trustee

“Ever since I joined ACME as a London School of Architecture part-time Part I almost 6 years ago ACME has been an incredibly supportive and enabling creative environment that allowed me to grow. I believe that ACME stands out as a workspace of becoming, where young designers feel encouraged to thrive, and are also given the opportunity to do so. As an Employee Trustee, I hope to contribute towards a company where future generations of ACMEers will benefit from the same warm, trusting, and welcoming environment as I could.” 

Vojtech Nemec, Architect & Employee Trustee

ACME is delighted to announce that the Employees of ACME London have acquired 100% of the shares in the company.

Since its inception in 2007, ACME has aspired to work for the benefit of all staff, sharing its profits transparently and equitably. Becoming Employee owned does not change how we work and does not change our purpose to create outstanding projects, with joy and sustainable profit. It formalises legally how we have intended to run the company from the start.

Our new holding company, ACME Overlord, owns all of the shares on behalf of all current and future employees, overseen by our new ACME Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). We welcome our five Trustees to the Board of our EOT. Our two Independent Trustees are Hanif Kara and Helen Hyde; the Employee Trustees are Amanda Callaghan and Vojtech Nemec; joined by Friedrich Ludewig as our Founder Trustee.

We are looking forward to working with our Trustees and all of our new ACME company owners in this exciting new Chapter for ACME London.

Each year, ACME take part in Architects Benevolent Society 5km fun-run event - raising awareness and funds to help those in need within the architectural community. Our much loved resident working cocker spaniel, Juno, led team ACME this year.

ACME celebrates its 16th birthday with clients, collaborators and friends in our newly renovated Tabernacle basement event space.

Many thanks to all who joined us for a lovely evening!

REWE Green Farming has been shortlisted for Exemplary Buildings in the State of Hesse 2023 Award - "Connecting Society, City and Countryside".

This State Prize for Architecture and Urban Development celebrates sustainable, pioneering social, green-blue and gray infrastructure projects within the region of Hesse, Germany.

More details here.

Copr Bay Bridge is shortlisted for the Pineapples 2023 - Infrastructure Award. A new gateway for Swansea - Copr Bay Bridge is a celebration of the city’s past, present and future. The 49m structure spans six lanes of busy traffic, safely reconnecting the city centre to one of Swansea’s greatest assets - its world-renowned coastline.

Copr Bay Bridge is a key part of the £135m Copr Bay urban transformation which has reactivated a previously underutilised plot of land and delivered the 3,500 capacity Swansea Arena and new public realm including the 1.1 acre Amy Dillwyn Park - the largest green roof in Wales.

More information here.

The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) has revealed the first details of its masterplan for the redevelopment of the former exhibition centre in west London. ACME is working with ECDC as commercial plot architect alongside masterplanners Studio Egret West, Hawkins Brown, landscape architects SLA, and phase one plot architects, Haworth Tompkins, Macreanor Lavington, Sheppard Robson, DRMM and Serie Architects. 

A long neglected, largely derelict 40-acre site in Zone 1 London will be reinstated as a destination of wonder. It is a landscape-led 680,000 sqm development which aims to go beyond net zero and become a climate-positive neighbourhood. The first phase expected commence in 2025.

Read AJ article here.

PSLab invited us to an evening in their Bermondsey studio, where they showcased their well designed and considered lighting and how this affects our mood, materials, atmosphere and activity.

PSLab previously assisted ACME with the design of our Victoria Gate Arcade building pendant, the prototype of which hangs in one of our meeting rooms, and miniature versions in our kitchen.

We look forward to collaborations in the future.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) hosts the 2023 LK.E. Ozolins Lecture ‘Food for Thought’, exploring the future of food production within urban environments.

Conversation is led by architect Carolyn Steel, leading thinker on food and cities - and includes ACME’s Friedrich Ludewig, Jago van Bergen from Van Bergen Kolpa Architects and David West from Studio Egret West.

Watch online here

Shoreline Crescent's curved façade made from glazed white bricks is fully revealed on site at Folkestone. A playful interpretation of the clinker brick sits within the concave rhythms of the south façade.

More information on the project here.

ACME is delighted to receive planning for the re-envisioning of Swansea's Castle  Square. Throughout the design process, locals have told us just how important green space in the city centre is, and this project helps to deliver significantly more landscape.

The new Castle Square will revitalise an important civic space with an interactive water feature, biodiverse planting and new routes. Two pavilions will be embedded into the existing landscape with green roofs above.  inspired by Swansea's history at the centre of copper production and celebrating local low carbon materials in the use of local timber and welsh stone.

As we all look back at a successful 2022 for ACME, we would like to thank our clients, consultants, colleagues and friends, without whom we would not be here. We wish you a great break and look forward to working with you in the new year.