2026

Skinners' Hall wins the AJ Retrofit and Reuse Awards 2026 for Conservation and Historic Building

Catherine Slessor wrote in The Architects' Journal,

The restoration and remodelling of Skinners’ Hall, the Grade I-listed home of one of London’s Great Twelve Livery Companies, was hugely complex and challenging. The eight‑year-long project reinterprets seven centuries of architecture, from 17th‑century reconstructions on medieval foundations, to Georgian ranges and a Victorian Great Hall. 

‘The beautifully judged synthesis of old and new gave coherence to a convoluted historic site,’ commented the judges, ‘and the way in which decarbonisation and heritage conservation were conceived as a single architectural process was patently transformational.’

Previously under-used and inaccessible basement vaults are now connected through new stairs and lifts that thread barrier-free routes throughout the buildings. The vaults have been converted into a major new event space, while the historic rooms above were restored as dining rooms, offices, event spaces, member facilities and apartments. A new rooftop pavilion, constructed from European oak, brick, limestone and stainless steel, adds a contemporary layer to the historic ensemble.

Failing services have been entirely replaced, and the building has been transitioned from gas to a fully electric system powered by air‑source heat pumps. Thermal upgrades throughout the listed fabric and new mechanical ventilation with heat recovery will further reduce operational energy.

Skinners’ Hall demonstrates how the reuse and repair of heritage fabric can be not only low‑carbon, but also culturally and spatially generative. The project has enabled new public engagement, new forms of occupation and a renewed sense of continuity in one of London’s most historically significant buildings.

Fashion Museum Bath has been awarded planning permission and listed building consent in a milestone for one of the UK’s most ambitious cultural projects. The project will secure the long-term future of one of the world’s great fashion collections in a dedicated new museum within the city of Bath’s unesco World Heritage Site. 6a were selected to transform the Grade II listed former Post Office by Bath and North East Somerset Council in 2024.

6a's transformation of Skinners' Hall is reviewed by Rob Wilson in the Architects' Journal

This project is a masterclass in how to decarbonise and revitalise a heritage building, drawing on its history neither as showy pastiche nor exaggerated palimpsest. There’s a sureness of touch in its calm, quiet interventions, using materials wisely and sparingly ... 

The Architects' Journal, February 2026