IBP Journalism Awards 2018: Full Results, Nominations and Entries

ARCHITECTURE WRITER OF THE YEAR

Ike Ijeh, Building Design - Winner

It’s necessary for the architectural professional to be called to account in the same way that the theatre is held to account by critics. This journalist does this with energy, enthusiasm and intellect. The copy is constructively critical, authoritative and courageous - in the best journalistic tradition. The voice if occasionally overwrought, is erudite.

Isabelle Priest, RIBA Journal – Highly Commended

The judges agreed that this journalist should be Highly Commended. The writing is of the highest standard – lean and vivid, drawing the reader into the heart of the stories, interweaving the narrative with strong interviews. This submission demonstrates this writer’s versatility as a journalist and architectural writer.

Manon Mollard, The Architectural Review

This journalist always tackles fascinating and unusual subjects and travels far to cover them, picking out detail and slowly drawing the reader into different cultures, landscapes and political contexts with the power of the writing.

CONSTRUCTION/INFRASTRUCTURE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Thomas Lane, Building Design - Winner

A diverse and topical range of subjects covered by the three articles.
The judges agreed that the well-researched piece on the Elizabeth Tower was outstanding. It offered the reader a ‘vantage point’ from which to view this unique and complex refurbishment project. The complimentary illustrations and indepth interviews added insight to a well-crafted story written with genuine enthusiasm for the subject.

The piece on LG’S new research facility in South Korea introduced an international flavour; the judges were impressed by the level of detail – agreeing that it was an interesting and informative read.

Lucy Alderson, Construction News

A consistent quality across three well researched articles the piece on Grenfell held the judge’s attention with its factual and insightful presentation. The piece on Canada Water was, the judges commented, well crafted and informative.

The judges were impressed by the level of detail in this well structured piece exposing the chaotic chain of events that followed the collapse of Carillion – pointing to wider issues with procurement that will have ramifications for years to come.

Binyamin Ali, Construction News

Three wide ranging and topical articles. A well structured and well researched piece highlighting the continued uncertainty surrounding the performance of cladding systems and how this is driving up the cost of insurance premiums in the aftermath of Grenfell.

The judges were impressed by the well crafted piece on the manufacturing technology centre and the prospect of replicable building platforms. the judges agreed, this piece was well researched, informative and insightful.

NEWS REPORTER OF THE YEAR

Peter Apps, Inside Housing - Winner

Apps used investigation to reveal the shocking detail behind one of the major stories for the sector; he also held the Government to account for its response to the same story, while delivering relevant knowledgeable news for the readers.

Katherine Smale, New Civil Engineer

Strong on the ground reporting backed by expert technical knowledge of a major disaster, while also reporting fears of a cost blow-out on HS2.

Nathaniel Barker, Inside Housing

Nathaniel exposes some of the contradictions and policy failures behind Right to Buy, while also flagging up the safety concerns for one housing association.

FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR

Jess McCabe, Inside Housing - Winner

Three topical articles each delivering the passion behind the stories. The judges found the well-researched and insightful piece on housing’s ‘#metoo’ moment compelling.

The piece on ‘discrimination in a social housing workplace’ provided an opportunity for many to speak directly about their experiences. The judges agreed this was powerful, emotional journalism at its best.

Martina Lees, The Sunday Times

Three well structured articles – packed with facts. The judges were impressed by the skillful way the reader was taken on a journey through the ‘Ultimate Extensions Guide’ a well crafted and informative piece which was, in the judge’s view, an excellent read.

The article on ‘Buy to Let’ revealed a significant market shift the judges commenting that the very comprehensive data analysis had enhanced the impact of this very interesting and insightful piece.

Thomas Lane, Building Design

Three comprehensive articles complementing each other and in the judges view each of a consistently high standard. The article ‘Safe as houses’, built on the important technical and regulatory issues raised by Grenfell. The judges were impressed by the thoughtful presentation of these complex issues.

The piece on @issues of Control’ was well constructed and informative – transporting the reader skillfully through a history of building control and its relevance in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.

BUSINESS/FINANCIAL JOURNLAIST OF THE YEAR

Judith Evans, Financial Times – Winner

Judith showed that she can break news and detect new trends and that she can leave the computer server in the office and trudge the streets in search of a story.

Her entries included a New York property deal and the plight of tenants in South London’s railway arches. But the story that most impressed the judges involved the bulk sale of flats by London developers. Judith detailed sale of whole stocks of homes to landlords and the terms available. She identified a trend in a London property market suffering from overdevelopment.

Luke Barratt, Inside Housing

Luke knows housing inside out and can make news of the politics and policies that affect the sector. He identified that the government fund set up to boost social housing had invested nothing and reported the on-going aftermath of the Grenfell fire.

Luke Cross, Social Housing

Housing associations ought to be part of the solution but they are increasingly part of the problem. Luke Cross has a close eye on this sector and reports on the machinations that make this a very newsy sector.

HOUSING AND RESIDENTIAL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Nathaniel Barker, Inside Housing - Winner

Nathaniel Barker scored highly on content, style and impact, with three articles on very different topics. He exposed the policy failings that the Government would prefer to forget, while digging deep to reveal an explosion in costs of homelessness for local authorities.

Peter Apps, Inside Housing - Highly Commended

A real investigation on the fire door safety stood out for the judges, exposing a nationwide risk to be addressed. This was backed by two articles critically examining Government housing policy.

Martin Hilditch, Inside Housing

A strong range of articles including a great piece highlighting perhaps under-recognized fire risks to private tenants.

MULTI-MEDIA JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Marcus Fairs, Dezeen - Winner

Marcus Fairs entry was overall highly professional, and the judges were ‘blown away’ by the film which was thought provoking and challenging for architects, encouraging them to think about how architecture may work in a world of drones.

Peter Apps, Sophie Barnes, Nathaniel Barker
and Luke Barratt, Inside Housing – Highly Commended

The judges felt that the joint entry by Apps, Barnes, Barker and Barratt from Inside Housing provided podcasts that were a serious examination of important topics for an engaged audience.

Simon Aldous, The Architects’ Journal

This engaging blog is developing well. The judges liked the fact that he is not afraid to say what he thinks.

‘NEW’ JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Ella Jessel, The Architects’ Journal - Winner

Ella has huge potential. The submissions included an excellent hard-hitting interview, and a feature where different voices were woven together to paint a sensitive and revealing picture of how professionals in the field feel about their role in the Grenfell disaster and the lessons that needed to be learnt. The judges were impressed by this journalist’s grasp of the architecture after so little time writing about the subject. A flying start to her career.

Luke Barratt, Inside Housing

This submission demonstrates the huge range of work that this young journalist can cover – confidently and with flair. Luke takes well-covered subjects, digging out new angles and making them fresh with meticulous research both of experts and the people at the heart of the stories.

Jordan Marshall, Building

Persistence is the key quality that makes Jordan stand out. It secured an exclusive interview with a leading developer and a scoop about major concerns over a construction project. She shows a sharp nose for news and has a clear news style.

SCOOP OF THE YEAR

Luke Barratt and Sophie Barnes, Inside Housing - Winners

A classic scoop Inside Housing that revealed the details of the Hackitt Review on the Grenfell tragedy a week prior to it being published. Barratt and Barnes made such an impact with the revelation that the review would NOT ban combustible cladding, a U-turn was made on the day it was published with a further consultation promised.

A genuine new angle on the unending Grenfell story, its reporting influenced the wider news agenda, building on its successes at the IBP Journalism Awards last year. The editor’s decision to revamp the reporting patches to focus specialisms on her team has paid off.

Peter Apps, Inside Housing

The judges were impressed by Peters dogged reporting of how the Government was warned in 2014, if it wanted to ban the cladding of the type covering Grenfell Tower, it would need to update and clarify UK Building Regulations – something it never did.

Showing strong investigative skills, Peter tracked down the crucial documents, which well presented in the article, and achieved quite an impact. The facts he discovered, although after the tragedy, were still shocking. Little did the people in the meeting in 2014 realize the significance of what was being said.

Zak Garner-Purkis, Construction News

Zak showed investigative flair with his expose of safety failings on the £745m Aberdeen Bypass project, highlighting in particular how Carillion’s cashflow crisis impacted on site safety. He gained the trust of multiple sources and obtained documents to cement his story. The judges were not surprised to see that such a comprehensive catalogue of safety failures prompted politicians to follow up.

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR WEEKLY

Construction News - Winner

CN’s coverage of the collapse of Carillion – in the judge’s view, the biggest construction industry story of the century – was impressively comprehensive.

A complete job covering every angle, its post-Carillion issue was packed with news, features and comment but also demonstrated impressive reader engagement, highlighting the best online responses to the volleys of breaking news stories the – admittedly small – editorial team had also published online. A new Editor, Tom Fitzpatrick, had the temerity to commission hard hitting research into difficult subjects for the construction industry – gender balance and mental health. The magazines diverse range of commentators complemented its hard-hitting news coverage.

Inside Housing

Building on its reputation for strong, investigative reporting, Inside Housing has made the Grenfell tragedy the focus of its reporting this year, with its reporters also dominating the IBP’s Scoop of the Year shortlist. However, its campaigning reputation does not stop there, with a revealing expose of the lack of diversity within the housing industry.

Building

A transformative year for this title, Building showed it has the magic touch with superbly presented and highly readable study of The Elizabeth Tower restoration, confident news reporting and exploration of new industry trends.

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR NON-WEEKLY

New London Quarterly – Winner

New London Quarterly is a weighty magazine full of short articles – both virtues. It means each edition offers a very wide range of features but does not overwrite them. If you’re not interested in one feature, turn the page, there’s another one. And brevity forces the writers to get to the point and stick to it.

The magazine combines that range with extremely good design which itself makes the articles easy to read. Yes, there is a strong commercial content in the editorial, but the mistake would be to think it was a pretty magazine to leave on display in receptions rather than a publication to read.

The Architects’ Journal

AJ seems to be a magazine in touch with its wide readership – not just the starchitects. Issues covered during the year included diversity and a very good student special that talked to the profession’s grass routes about training.
Planning in London

Planning in London

Planning in London shows that a magazine dies not need an ultra-styled design to be read. It is cleanly laid out with very clear headlines guiding the reader to the articles that cover their subject succinctly when some other journals would have written twice as much but achieved only half the impact.

DIGITAL SERVICE OF THE YEAR

Dezeen - Winner

The site has a real agenda and is brilliant at tapping into the zeitgeist and finding the architectural angle. In a nutshell: it’s great journalism.

The Architects’ Journal

This is a highly professional site with good content. It is easy to use and nicely designed. It is no surprise that the traffic is up nearly 30% year on year.

Construction News

The site provides a solid service that looks at big stories in depth. The ‘inspire me’ campaign was a good idea.