Architectural practice of the year

Winner
Allies and Morrison
It's not a huge surprise this practice pipped the mighty Foster and Partners to the rostrum: 2003 was Allies and Morrison's year. Not only was it a popular success, being the architect most frequently employed by Britain's top 50 clients, but those clients are among the most discerning judges of good architecture in the country, from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge to the BBC. And according to those clients, it came out top for integrity, creativity and for bringing the project in on time. Speaking of the Beeb, Allies' £150m White City project consisted of massive office blocks in a lake of concrete – on the face of it, a recipe for urban alienation. Allies turned it into a humane project that the BBC's staff liked almost as much as local residents. Unsurprisingly, the practice is growing a tremendous rate, expanding more than 40% over the past few years.

'An utterly exceptional team that is a pleasure as well as an inspiration to work with'

RUNNERS-UP
Foster and Partners
Reader, if you seek this lot's monument, look about you – especially if you happen to be in, for example, London, Berlin or Hong Kong. So it was interesting that almost all of the clients we contacted for comment stressed, in addition to the practice's "exemplary" design skills, its ability to manage the construction process – to produce the right drawings at the right time, to solve practical problems in a pragmatic way and generally to get on with everyone. Last year, the firm produced the range of projects that we expect from the practice – one of the few British practices that is large enough to hold its own in a global market. So we had bravura feats of civil engineering at Beijing airport and the magical Swiss Re tower, and we also had two stunning residential schemes, at St Moritz in Switzerland and Albion Riverside in Battersea.

'The major difference that Foster's provides is that they become totally part of the team'

Benoy
Benoy has established itself as the firm that has put the shopping mall on the same aesthetic footing as the City office and the Oxbridge college – and it has done so across the world, from Sweden to Vietnam. Last year was the year that it succeeded in recapturing the Birmingham Bullring from stand-up comedians and gave it back to the people of Birmingham, so that they could do their shopping in surroundings that make Milan look rather dowdy. The Benoy reputation has also been extended beyond the retail sector, into university laboratories in its home town of Nottingham and a number of regeneration and residential projects. This success is reflected in operating profit that has grown twentyfold over three years.

'A very good balance of design and commercial awareness – good people to deal with'

0 Agenda 21 Architects
This practice has wasted no time reaching the senior league – despite having a track record stretching back all of six years and a grand total of 10 staff. It gives housing associations buildings that keep the Housing Corporation happy and yet look like luxury flats. With this selling point, it is predictable that 90% of its work is with repeat clients, and that its workload has grown a steady 30% a year since its founding. Expect to see them back here next year.

'Agenda 21's strong understanding of our requirements led to fresh and innovative ideas'

John McAslan + Partners
Intellectually rigorous, commercially astute, internationally recognised, John McAslan + Partners is a dead cert for the Building Awards. The only criticism you could level at it is that it's a little too small to have the kind of influence that it should have. On the other hand, its turnover and profit are climbing rapidly, and the practice is expanding – staff numbers have grown more than 50% in the past three years. What's more, it redistributes 20% of its profit to staff, which must do something for morale …

'This practice has been exemplary in its approach'

Alsop Architects
Alsop Architects has designed buildings that come close to being works of art, while growing fee income by more than one-third over the year. And these buildings are not art in the way that good architecture is, but a lot more subversive. Much of Alsop's work not only blows a raspberry at polite design, it's liable to look like one as well. Last year, it branched out into masterplanning and regeneration, notably the reconceptualising of Barnsley, the UK's most deprived town, as a Tuscan hill town. This we've got to see.

'We have a world-class building – the Ontario College of Art and Design – because of Will Alsop'