Small wonders

Let's hear it for the small things. Architecture with a capital A likes the swagger of focusing on the big landmark projects: corporate headquarters, airports, museums and galleries. But for each one of these, thousands of everyday spaces are being remodelled, refurbished or extended. To showcase the ingenuity and skill of these more modest projects, the Royal Institute of British Architects hosts an annual exhibition of shortlisted entries in the Small Projects competition for architectural schemes costing less than £250,000.

"Often architecture is seen as a luxury, but we see our role as trying to make things better," says architect Elizabeth Adams of Adams & Sutherland. The practice has two projects in the exhibition, which demonstrates how big ideas can be realised on small budgets.

One is its project for the Eleanor Palmer Primary School in Tufnell Park. With a budget of £55,000, it transformed a miserable, chilly school corridor into a vibrant, well-lit and warm area for exhibitions and classes. Along with adding roof lights and boosting insulat ion levels to meet new regulations and make the space welcoming, the key to this multifunctional area is the new desk, storage and display unit. "Basically, it is one long, complex piece of furniture designed with swivelling panels for artworks, desks for quiet work or one-to-one tuition, and lots of storage space," explains Adams.

Problem solving is a major theme in this exhibition, and for Jane Opher and David Howel-Evans of Heostudio, the challenge was to transform Oxford's Thirst lounge bar and restaurant in just four days. Owner Spirit Bars wanted the work to be completed during a short lull before the university's spring term began. "Our solution was to design the new interior so that it could be made in pieces that would fit together on site like a jigsaw," explains Howel-Evans, adding that "everything was measured at least four times".

Precast fibre-cement panels were made to line the space " like concrete wallpaper", a new stainless-steel case was made to wrap around the old concrete bar, furniture was made off site and then everything was delivered in vans and fixed into place. Meanwhile, floors were sanded and refinished, lighting upgraded and new tiling added all within the four days and with a budget of £40,000.

The challenge for Paul Archer Design was to create an airy extension leading from the kitchen to the garden of an Islington house without destroying a tree next to the property. An asymmetrical design with a skewed retaining wall was the answer, with the original back door linked to the new wall by silver steps leading to a seating area above the garden. The roof was crafted from a double-glazing sheet supported by a steel frame. The project cost £65,000.

Prefabrication features in several projects, including a beautiful timber-wrapped new live/work building that has risen from a derelict and difficult plot in Deptford. The architect and owner, Robert Doe, who works for a steelframe producer, created a steel skeleton onto which the floors, insulation and timber cladding have been fixed.

The home and workspace is designed to be environmentally-friendly using as little energy and water as possible. "The frame was made just a mile away in Greenwich," says Doe. "It was screwed together on site, then wall panels were fixed in place and finally it was completed with an aluminiumsheeting roof. I wanted to do something innovative, which I could do with a smaller building. And a tight budget really helps to focus the mind." The cost was £156,250.

The exhibition features 30 projects, from shops to a beach house and an all-glass extension to a public lavatory.

The Small Projects competition is run by Architects' Journal magazine in association with RobinEllis Design and Construction. The Small Projects exhibition is on show at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 66 Portland Place, W1 (020 7580 5533), until 24 April. Admission free.