Clear Architects have won Residential Architecture Firm of the Year – UK in the Corporate LiveWire Architecture Awards 2018. This is the second accolade the Loughton-based practice have scooped up this year, after being honoured in Houzz’s Best of Design Awards in January.

The LiveWire Awards celebrate construction, design planning and completed projects. The scheme showcases firms and individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to sustainability within the sector and those who represent the pinnacle of business achievement.

Melanie Clear, Founder and Managing Director of London Architects, Clear, is delighted with the latest accolade the practice can add to its current list of awards.

“We are absolutely thrilled to win this award and to be recognised not just for our creative vision, but for our intelligent business strategy that has led to our considerable success with Green Belt projects.

Architecture is about vision and creativity, plus meeting and exceeding client briefs to produce exceptional buildings. At Clear Architects we take clients on a journey from the initial concepts to the finished product, but it’s our relationship with those clients that sets us apart,” she says.

As part of the LiveWire Awards, firms and individuals are judged on certain criteria. This includes their ability to demonstrate impressive examples of technological advancements, ethical and sustainable practices, plus new design and innovative strategies that contribute to the architecture sector. Winners are carefully selected by a panel of independent judges, who choose a firm that they believe has excelled and exceeded in each of these areas.

Clear were able to edge ahead of the competition thanks to their outstanding track record working on Green Belt projects, which feature an extra layer of complexity compared to other schemes. The Essex-based practice have excelled in this area, and judges were able to see how their experts devise planning applications to meet the client brief and planning requirements.

An array of recently successful planning applications demonstrates Clear Architects’ proven expertise in working closely with clients and authorities to develop innovative architectural solutions. The practice’s Woodford Road project, for instance, required designers to work closely within Conservation Area constraints to develop a scheme that breathes new life into an Art Deco building. The practice’s Forest Rise project, situated in an area of Green Belt, also gained formal consent from local authorities. Work is due to begin on site in 2019.

James Mors, Creative Director at Clear Architects, says:

“Sustainability is at the core of our practice ethos and we are continually looking at new developments within the industry and clever ways of generating renewable energy. Our new studio has given us the opportunity to trial new methods in a bid to become completely reliant on natural energy sources.”