Kate Macintosh receives AJ100 Contribution to the Profession award 2024

The architect and activist won the accolade after topping a poll of AJ100 practice employees. Previous winners include Peter Barber, Grafton Architects founders Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Pooja Agrawal of Public Practice and Zaha Hadid.

AJ editor Emily Booth said: ‘Kate Macintosh is a wonderful winner of this year’s Contribution to the Profession award. From her exceptional work, encapsulated in the groundbreaking Dawson’s Heights scheme and her tireless support and ongoing advocacy for stand-out social housing,

‘Kate is, quite simply, a hero to so many. It is the AJ’s privilege to recognise her leadership and influence with this honour.’

Now 86, Macintosh studied at the Edinburgh College of Art and worked for Denys Lasdun on the National Theatre before moving into the public sector with the London Borough of Southwark. Here, while still in her 20s, she designed her tour-de-force, the landmark Dawson’s Heights (1964-72) a 300-unit ziggurat of social housing in East Dulwich, south-east London.

Later, at the London Borough of Lambeth, she completed the celebrated sheltered housing development of 269 Leigham Court Road (1968-73), clustered around a garden like modern almshouses. Now Grade II listed, it has been renamed Macintosh Court in her honour. Like Dawson’s Heights, which includes a mix of differently sized family units, the scheme succeeds on both an architectural and social level.

Source:Michael Franke

Kate Macintosh at Dawson’s Heights, south-east London

After moving out of London, Macintosh designed many civic buildings for East Sussex and Hampshire county councils, including schools, fire stations, playgrounds and social housing.

Over her long career, she has been a particularly strong advocate for good public housing. Asked what her prescription for this would be, she says: ‘Inclusiveness – suppress the car and prioritise the interests of the child … If it’s good for children, it will be good for everybody.’

Macintosh was presented with her award at the AJ100 gala event on Friday (21 June), held at City Central, HAC near London’s Old Street.

Source:Sam Lambert

10 Macintosh Court, Lambeth, one of the UK’s first sheltered housing schemes, retrospectively renamed after its architect. Kate Macintosh