Winner: Cultural project of the year 2023. London-based New Makers Bureau has designed Uganda's 32° East Arts Centre, featuring rammed-earth walls and earth bricks.

A collaboration with Ugandan firm Localworks, the community arts space is situated in Kabalagala, Kampala. The centre houses artist studios, a versatile cafe doubling as an interim gallery, and Uganda's only specialist arts library.

With a low-carbon, budget-conscious approach, the building employs materials sourced from the site.

The centre's L-shaped structure encircles a courtyard garden and utilises passive design strategies such as polycarbonate roof lights. Projecting steel-framed windows for natural lighting, ventilation, and temperature control.

Judges comments: "A project that feels like it always belonged to this place, the building exemplifies the value of local production and construction techniques. The formal reinterpretation of the asymmetrical pitched roof is both new, playful and spatially complex. Based on a sensitive climatological understanding of place, the building is composed of rich materials with sensitive and contextual approaches to construction."

Studio: New Makers Bureau
Project: 32° East Arts Centre
Credits: Localworks and 32° East | Ugandan Arts Trust