LONDON, ENGLAND.- Plasma Studio, a London based practice founded by architects Eva Castro and Holger Kehne, has been named winner of the Corus/Building Design Young Architect of the Year Award 2002. The practice was awarded the title, prize money of £5,000 and a one year contract, worth £20,000, with specialist PR firm Tamesis, at a presentation at London’s Trafalgar hotel. The annual award was launched five years ago to discover and reward the best architects aged 35 and under from all over the world, and is the only competition aimed at qualified architects looking for recognition at the start of their career. Castro, an Argentinean, and Kehne, from Germany, formed their practice in 1999 and since then have worked most notably on a number of refurbishment and restructuring projects in London. These include the refurbishment of a Silversmith’s workshop, an extension and interior fit-out of two shops in Camden, and the complete refurbishment of Horizon Computer Systems offices in Old Street. Other projects include competition entries for the German Oceanic Museum in Stralsund and the Irish Arts and Heritage Headquarters in Dublin. Commenting on Plasma Studio, Richard Feilden, chair of the judging panel, said 'Plasma Studio’s work combines a strong theoretical agenda with a growing body of completed projects which may be small scale to date but offer exciting design vision. They present their work with great energy and commitment and we look forward with expectation to seeing how their practice will develop.' A further three entries were shortlisted by the judges and were each presented with prize money of £1,350: London-based practice Meta Infrastructural Domain (MID); Danish practice PLOT; and Rémy Marciano, an architect working out of his own office in France. Helen Williams of Corus said 'Corus promotes excellence in design and architecture and is keen to ensure that designers achieve recognition for their work. By continuing to collaborate with Building Design on this exciting award, we are delighted to champion the next generation of architects.' Robert Bevan, editor of Building Design, added 'There is a desperate need for more opportunities for younger architects to prove themselves. If the quality of architecture is to continue to improve it is crucial that the best young talent is promoted and celebrated, not only through awards such as this, but through bold clients prepared to test new talent.' The judging panel was chaired by Richard Feilden and included Kathryn Findlay, Malcolm Fraser, Zaha Hadid, Fred Manson, Jay Merrick (The Independent), Paul Monaghan, Mohsen Mostafavi (The Architectural Association), Jim Robinson (Corus), Graeme Sutherland and the 2001 winner Spela Videcnik. An additional five candidates were commended by the judges and will have their work profiled alongside the short-list in a special Young Architect of the Year 2002 Building Design supplement to be published on 1 March.