A season worth marking for Porthmadog House

Porthmadog House, perched on a cliffside in beautiful north Wales, has had a busy few months.

In June the house won the RSAW 2026 Welsh Architecture Award, recognition from the Royal Society of Architects in Wales for work judged against site, brief and execution. The project team of Magnus Ström, Hugh Richardson and Ross Couper accepted the award in Cardiff in May and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

It then won the Popular Choice award at the Architizer A+ Awards, in the Private House (L, 4000–6000 sq ft) category. The A+ Awards are the world’s largest architecture awards programme, run from New York and followed well beyond the profession, so our thanks go to everyone who took the time to vote. And just this week, we've received news that it's also been shortlisted for British Homes Awards 'New House of the Year' (over 2,500 sq ft).

The RIBA Journal, in its review of the house, put its finger on what sets the work apart:

“The handling of both materials demonstrates an extraordinary quality of finish and provides an important reminder that in order for British craft to continue, there must be the patronage of committed clients and skilled teams to design and construct work of the highest standard. That is unquestionably the case here.”

A finish like that takes a committed client, one who backs the work the whole way through, and a team committed to designing at the highest standard, with real attention to every detail. When it all comes together, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Alongside the RSAW, Architizer and British Homes Awards results, Ström Architects is a finalist in the Residential Architect of the Year category at Building Design’s Architect of the Year Awards.

We’re pleased to share this run of results. Awards aren’t the point of the work. The site, the brief and the people who live in the house matter far more. But we do appreciate them, and it’s good to have the work seen and judged by others, whether a panel of architects, the public, or a journal that knows the field. After some hard years across the industry, it’s heartening to see serious, high-end residential architecture still valued.

Thank you to the judges and to everyone who voted for their time and support.