Glasgow-based practice Nord is the winner of this year's BD Young Architect of the Year Award. Ellis Woodman looks at the qualities that appealed to the jury, as well as its thoughts on the runners up The members of this year's 10th Young Architect of the Year Award jury were a notably diverse bunch, taking in Royal College of Art professor of architecture Nigel Coates, director of Somerset House Gwyn Miles, BD editor Amanda Baillieu, Alison Brooks, Foster & Partners senior partner Spencer de Grey and chairman Paul Monaghan of AHMM.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, the shortlist they picked was a more wide-ranging one than in years past.

Each of the five nominated practices has staked out its own particular area of concern. IJP Corporation has spent a decade pushing the boundaries of computer-aided design, Mangera Yvars has set itself the task of reinvigorating the language of Islamic architecture, Urban Salon is making buildings of an avowedly temporary nature, Featherstone Associates is developing work from processes of consultation.

And yet, as Nigel Coates said when the judges convened at the end of a long afternoon of interviews: 'I think the clap-o-meter went north, didn't it?' Indeed it did.

In the course of a hugely impressive performance, the Glasgow-based Nord (Northern Office for Research & Design) had secured the jury's unanimous support. Although practice directors Robin Lee and Alan Pert only set up in partnership four years ago, they have already realised a formidable range of projects, with many more now on their books.

The judges were particularly impressed by their ability to unearth opportunities in a city where many creative architects have studied, but few have stayed on to establish careers.

'In a way they had taken on Glasgow as their project but they weren't self-conscious about it'

The practice had undertaken a series of projects that engaged with Scotland's recently introduced ban on smoking in public venues. One such design was for a ceramic ashtray to be mounted on the face of buildings. Another was for a green space outside a nightclub which would incorporate heated seating.

'It was quite subversive,' said Coates. 'They had created this smoking area and in doing so they had created a situationist edge for a city where people had gone indoors. Previously, there was no street life.'

A similar sensibility informed a scheme for the reuse of Glasgow's 33 redundant Victorian public conveniences. Nord is proposing that some will be returned to their original use, while others will be transformed into street cafes, kiosks, internet touch down points, public laundries and holistic centres.

'In a way they had taken on Glasgow as their project but they weren't self-conscious about it,' said Alison Brooks.

Concurrent with these urban-scale projects Nord has developed a number of bar and restaurant interiors which were as rich as the exteriors of its buildings were austere. Lee and Pert identified Adolf Loos as a key influence on their work in this regard. The practice's interest in craft had also begun to extend into product design including N180°, its reworking of the Anglepoise lamp.

'I just enjoyed the raw energy of those two,' said Spencer de Grey in conclusion. 'They were creating something more or less out of nothing and their invention and ability to get things built in the four years that they had been going was remarkable. I thought they had a passionate commitment.'