We are delighted to announce that The Apple House, designed by Ben Stuart-Smith of Okra Studio, has been shortlisted for the RIBA East Awards 2026.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is the UK’s leading professional body for architects, championing excellence in architecture through its prestigious annual awards.

The Apple House is built almost exclusively from natural, low-carbon, and locally sourced materials. It is a place of exchange and learning, hosting whole-studio gatherings, knowledge-sharing events, and symposiums including Working with Earth, Working with Water, The Safe Green Space, and The Power of Trees, to name a few.

Surrounded by the Plant Library, the Apple House is home to the not-for-profit Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health, which works to foster community cohesion, nature connection, and wellbeing through gardening and other acts of creativity. It is also a base for landscape architects at Tom Stuart-Smith Studio.

Manufacturers and builders that made the building possible include: Slabside Construction, DASK Timber, HG Matthews (strock floor), Grey Oak (fit out), Will Stanwix (hempcrete walls), Tom Stuart-Smith Studio (landscape) and Structure Workshop (structural engineer).

We look forward to welcoming the judging panel in March. You can visit the building during one of the Serge Hill Project Garden Openings; dates can be booked via our What’s On page.