30/08/2025
✨ We’re delighted to share that our project at 412a Muswell Hill Broadway has been shortlisted as a Finalist in the SBID International Design Awards 2025! ✨
This nomination recognises the transformation of a tired, former Woolworths store into a vibrant, mixed-use development — bringing together retail on the ground floor with thoughtfully designed new homes above. It’s a story of adaptive reuse: respecting the fabric of the high street while re-imagining its future.
What makes this project special is not just the architecture, but the collaboration. From the very first sketches through to the realities of planning, construction, and delivery, this was a process involving multiple voices, a few inevitable dramas, and a shared determination to breathe new life into a once-neglected site.
📖 For those who’d like to dive deeper into the full history and chronology of the design, our new book sets out the journey in detail, capturing the thinking, the challenges, and the solutions that shaped the project:
👉 Read the book: https://issuu.com/ribaarchitect/docs/412a_muswell_hill_broadway_book
🎙️ If you’d rather listen in, our podcast takes you behind the scenes to hear directly about the process — the human stories, the hurdles, and the unexpected turns that define projects like this:
👉 Listen to the podcast: https://on.soundcloud.com/xkjg3Xj8oikbguvhl6
But above all, this is not just one project. It’s an example of what can happen when we rethink our high streets. Across the UK, we’re surrounded by underused buildings and fading shopfronts. With imagination, investment, and collaboration, they can become part of the solution to some of our biggest challenges: housing shortages, high street decline, and the need for more resilient urban spaces.
And this is where we’d love your support. The public vote for the SBID Awards is now open, and every vote helps highlight the value of adaptive reuse as a way forward for towns and cities everywhere.
🗳️ Voting closes on 5th September 2025. If our work resonates with you, we’d be hugely grateful for your support:
👉 Vote for us here: https://www.sbidawards.com/award-entries/2025/13-residential-budget-up-to-50000/zen-apartment-412a-muswell-hill-broadway/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Thank you for reading, for voting, and for joining the conversation about how we can design a better future for our high streets.
