Adam Richards Architects is an award-winning architectural practice founded in 2000. Based in our design studios in London and Sussex, ARA has developed a reputation for a wide range of arts, cultural, heritage and residential projects.
From its inception, ARA’s approach has been to transform the deeper cultural themes within its projects into engaging critical, spatial, social and structural propositions. Often our clients have unique objects and unusual sites. We work collaboratively with them to find inspiring, inventive and affordable ways of making their environment better.
The practice has built a reputation for the quality of its designs, winning a range of national and international awards. In 2015 a book, ‘Designing for Ditchling’, was published about ARA’s work.
Current projects include houses, museums and a lido. The practice was recently nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award.
Adam Richards Architects gained international recognition for the critically acclaimed Ditchling Museum of Art + Crafts, which was chosen by the Sunday Times as the architectural highlight of the year.
“The museum tells this story with aplomb… in the spirited setting of Adam Richards’s architecture.”
New York Times
Adam Richards BA(Hons) BSc(Hons) DipArch(Cantab) RIBA is a British architect whose work has encompassed architecture, interior design, furniture and landscape design.
Adam studied architecture at Cambridge University under Peter Carl & Dalibor Vesely, after a degree in international relations and politics. He worked in Dublin and London for Niall McLaughlin, MacCormac Jamieson Prichard and O’Donnell & Tuomey on projects ranging from national museums to private houses, before establishing Adam Richards Architects in 2000.
Adam has taught architecture at Cambridge University and Kingston University, and has been a guest critic at a range of architecture schools. Adam has been a judge for a number of architectural awards, and is a member of the South Downs National Park Design Review Panel.
2021
Nithurst Farm:
EU Mies Award 2022 – Nominee
2020
Nithurst Farm:
Wallpaper* Magazine Worldwide Best New House 2020 – Winner
Walmer Castle:
Civic Trust Award - Regional finalist
2019
Nithurst Farm:
Royal Institute of British Architects South East Building of the Year
Royal Institute of British Architects National Award
Royal Institute of British Architects, House of the Year – Shortlisted
Architects Journal, House of the Year, Manser Medal - Shortlisted
South Downs National Park Awards, Non-residential Award - Winner
South Downs National Park Awards, Innovation Award -Winner
2015
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft:
European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Award – Nominated
2014
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft:
Architects' Journal Retrofit Awards, Cultural Buildings - Winner
Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year - Shortlist
Building Design Architect of the Year Awards, Public Building Architect of the Year – Finalist
Council for the Protection of Rural England Awards, New Sussex Landscape category – Full Award
Royal Institute of British Architects South East Building of the Year
Royal Institute of British Architects National Award
Royal Institute of British Architects Regional Award Sussex
Heritage Trust Awards, Public & Community Award - Winner
South Downs Society Special Commendation
Wood Awards, Existing Building Category – Winner
Wood Awards, Arnold Laver Gold Awards – Winner
2013
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft:
Apollo Awards. Museum Opening of the Year - Shortlisted
World Architecture News Awards, Adaptive Re-use Award – Winner
2011
Mission Hall:
Architectural Review AR House Award – Commended
Building Design Architect of the Year Awards, Public One-off Architect of the Year – Finalist
Daily Telegraph British Homes Awards - Commended
Royal Institute of British Architects National Award
Royal Institute of British Architects Manser Medal – Shortlisted
Sussex Heritage Trust Awards, Small Scale Residential Award - Winner
World Architecture News Awards, Home of the Year Award – Shortlisted
2010
Quinta da Serra:
Grand Designs Awards, International category – Finalist
2005
Flinthouse:
Georgian Group Awards, New Building in a Georgian Context Category – Runner-up
Architects' Journal 40 under 40 Awards
2021
Phantastische Villa: Adam Richards Nithurst Farm, by Lena Stiller – Detail, February 2021
2020
Nithurst Farm
Una Casa de Campo que juega al despiste -Elle Décor Spain, 27th November 2020
Una casa de campo que juega al despiste, by Fran Munoz - Elle Décor Spain, November 2020
Come Un Film -Living: Corriere della sera, 1st November 2020
Samsung Meets The Architect Who Has Turned WFH Into An Artform - Mr Porter, 25th September 2020
Collage dans le Sussex - An Architecure of Bits -L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, 1st September 2020
‘A Roman ruin wrapped around a modern concrete house’ – step inside Adam Richards' Nithurst Farm by Charlie Monaghan - Modern House, 7th August 2020
Stairway to heaven by Jeremy Musson - Country Life, 5th August 2020
'Like the sudden revelation of something ancient' Timothy Brittain-Catlin on contemporary follies, by Timothy Brittain-Catlin - Apollo Magasine, 1st May 2020
Architecture for art’s sake: houses designed to show off artwork by Edwin Heathcote - Financial Times, 12th May 2020
Tarkowskis Traum, by Florian Siebeck - AD Germany, 1st April 2020
Off the menu by Emma Love - Elle Decoration UK, 1st April 2020
Inside Nithurst Farm - a Talented Architect's Dream Home, Architectural Digest USA, 10th March 2020
Jeu de briques - Milk Decoration, 1st March 2020
Adam Richards' Nithurst wins Wallpaper Design Award for Best New Private House - Wallpaper, 1st February 2020
A House of Desires and Dreams by Edwin Heathcote - Financial Times, 25th January 2020
Nithurst Farm: Adam Richards Distills a Trove of Architectural Inspirations into his Family Home- Yatzer, 13th January 2020
Walmer Castle
Ett nytt Kapitel - RUM, 1st July 2020
Adam Richards Architects uses brick and black zinc for Walmer Castle learning centre - Dezeen, 15th May 2020
After Fort by Ellie Duffy - AJ Heritage Issue, 27th April 2020
Adam Richards designs a new education facility for a 16th century castle by the sea by Harriet Thorpe - Wallpaper, 8th April 2020
New words speak of old themes at Walmer Castle development by Charles Holland - RIBA J, 1st April 2020
2019
Nithurst Farm, by Lizzie Crook - Dezeen, 4th December 2019
Points of Reference, by Takero Shimazaki - Architecture Today, December 2019
One for the Ages, Nithurst Farm by Adam Richards by Rob Wilson - Architects' Journal, 6th November, 2019
Tuscan Palazzo? No! Try a Family Home in Sussex, by Dominic Bradbury - The Times, 2nd November
Nithurst Farm, an Architects Home that's all an Illusion, by Hugh Pearman - RIBA Journal, November 2019
If Tarkovsky had a Farm, by Rowan Moore, October 27th 2019
Nithurst Farm Shortlisted for RIBA House of the Year 2019, by Ellie Stathaki, 23rd October 2019
Farm and Function, by Ruth Guilding - World of Interiors, October, 2019
2017
BOOK: New Design for Old Buildings, by Roger Hunt & Ian Boyd - RIBA Publications
2015
BOOK: Designing for Ditchling, by Hilary Williams, Adam Richards & Phil Baines - Orthostat Editions
Timber Case Study: Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft - In Touch with Timber magazine, Issue 17, 2015
VIDEO: Adam Richards Architects' Ditchling Museum, by Michaila Hancock - Architects’ Journal, 26 March, 2015
2014
Wood Awards Winner: Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, by Hugh Pearman - RIBA Journal, December 2014
And Britain’s Best Museum Is…, by Max Egremont - The Times, 28th April 2014
Retrofit of the Year, by Laura Mark - Architects’ Journal, 17 September 2014
Retrofit Awards 2014 shortlist announced, by Laura Mark - Architects’ Journal, 27 June, 2014
2013
Museum Opening of the Year Shortlist, by David Eskerdjian - Apollo, The International Art Magazine, December 2013
Ditchling Museum's Guiding Dream, by Andrew Lambirth - The Spectator, 23rd November 2013
Rural Idyll, by Hugh Pearman - RIBA Journal, November 2013
Building: Ditchling Museum, Adam Richards Architects, by Peter Newby - Architecture Today, October 2013
Craftwork/Cult Fictions, by Jay Merrick - Architects’ Journal, 18th October 2013
Crafts in Context, by Michael Hall - Country Life, 16th October 2013
The Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft, a local museum done right, by Rupert Christiansen - Daily Telegraph, 16th September 2013
A Community of Craftsmen in England, by Alice Rawsthorn - The New York Times, September 15, 2013
2012
Cracking opportunity, by Dominic Bradbury - House & Garden, December 2012
New Mission Hall, by Susanne Ulrik - Tegl Magazine, March 2012
2011
BOOK: Architecture 11: RIBA Buildings of the Year, by Tony Chapman - Merrel
BOOK: Apartment Living: 21st Century Architecture - Images Publishing
Three Houses, by Simon Knox - Architecture Today, November 2011
Manser Medal, by James Pallister - Architects’ Journal, 17th November 2011
Mission Hall, by Amy Frearson - Dezeen, October 2011
Preview: Ditchling Museum, Ed. Catherine Slessor - Architectural Review, September 2011
Top of the Form, by Emma Wells - Sunday Times, 11th September 2011
AR House 2011, Ed. Catherine Slessor/Rob Gregory/Silvana Taher - Architectural Review, August 2011
RIBA Awards 2011, Ed. Rory Olcyato - Architects’ Journal, 16th June 2011
Bright Young Things, by Claire Barrett - Elle Decoration Space Plus, March 2011
2010
BOOK: 21st Century Houses: 150 of the World’s Best, Ed. Robyn Beaver - Images Publishing
2009
BOOK: Build-On: Converted Architecture & Transformed Buildings, Ed. Robert Klanten & Lukas Feireiss - Gestalten 2009
BOOK: Interactive Architecture Design, by Dr Carlos Calderon - Harvard Design & Technology Series 2009-2
Sculpted by the Mountain, by Mariana Monteiro - House Traders (Portugal), September 2009
Outdoor Pursuits, by Jonathan Self - Country Life, 24th June 2009
Address Book, Ed. Sally Wade - AJ Specification, February 2009
First Look: Cart Lodge conversion will create new front for Ditchling Museum - Building Design magazine, 20th February 2011
2008
A selection of the best Next Generation Architects, by Henrietta Thompson - The Architecture Foundation, 2008
2007
A selection of the best Next Generation Architects - The Architecture Foundation, 2007
2006
BOOK: How to Live in Small Spaces, by Terence Conran - Conran Octopus Ltd.
BOOK: Compendium, The work of the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture, Ed. Tom Holbrook - Cambridge University Press
How we cracked it, Ed. Amanda Birch - Building Design magazine, 15th December 2006
2005
40 Under 40, Ed. Isobel Allen - Architects’ Journal, 16th June 2005
Flint House – Housing in Life - INEX magazine (S Korea), 2005, No.2, Vol.6
