Tszwai So

Tszwai So
Born	China
Alma mater	University of Hong Kong, University of Cambridge
Occupation	Architect
Awards	AIA UK Young Architect of the Year AJ Retrofit Award - finalist Ashden Prize - commended New London Culture & Community Award - commended New London People’s Choice Award Offsite Award - finalist RIBA London Award RICS Community and Benefit Award - shortlisted RICS Design Through Innovation Award - shortlisted Structural Timber Award - Finalist Wood Award - shortlisted RIBA Journal Rising Star Award Ho Fook Prize in Architecture 2003
Practice	Spheron Architects
Buildings	Belarusian Memorial Chapel
Website	www.spheronarchitects.co.uk

Tszwai So (Chinese: 蘇子葳) is a British-Chinese architect. He is best known for his Belarusian Memorial Chapel, which is the first wooden church built in London since the Great Fire in 1666.^[1]

Biography

So grew up in British Hong Kong. He studied architecture at the University of Hong Kong, graduating in 2003 as the recipient of Ho Fook Prize in Architecture.^[2]

He later moved to the United Kingdom and studied for a master’s degree in Building History at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.^[2]

In 2011, he co-founded Spheron Architects with Samuel Bentil-Mensah, based in London and Accra.^[3]

Awards and recognition

Tszwai So from Spheron Architects, architect of the Belarusian Memorial Chapel in London, winner of the Young Church Architect or Surveyor of the Year

The Belarusian Memorial Chapel in London

Tszwai So and the practice have been nominated for and won numerous awards, their clients include Birkbeck College, Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, Holy See of Rome, Queen Mary University of London, RIBA Journal and Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.^[3]

So was named a rising star in British Architecture by the RIBA Journal on 31 October 2016, on the merits of his three projects: Remembering Chernobyl Exhibition, Urban Hermitage and Belarusian Memorial Chapel. He was named the best UK young architect under the age of 40 in 2017 by the American Institute of Architects.^[4]

So is also a trustee of Heritage Trust Network,^[5] a nationwide charity which helps saving the built heritage of the UK, jointly funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, Historic England, National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw, Pilgrim Trust and the Headley Trust. He is an authority on Belarusian Wooden Church Heritage and Victorian architecture by George Truefitt, and has published papers on both subjects in the RIBA Journal.^{[6] [7]}

On 26 October 2017, in recognition of his contribution to church buildings in the early stage of his career, So was presented the Young Church Architect of the Year Award by The Duke of Gloucester, who was one of the judges of the jury on behalf of National Churches Trust, a charity under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II.^[8]

In March 2018, Tszwai So won a competition of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience for a proposal of a Pan-European Memorial for the Victims of Totalitarianism in Brussels.^[9]

External links

• Interview with TUT.by, the Belarusian national news portal: У Лондане з’явіцца беларуская царква памяці ахвяраў Чарнобыля [A Belarusian church commemorating the victims of Chernobyl to be built in London], 19 September 2013
• Interview with Zviazda, a major Belarusian newspaper: Чаму беларуская царква стала ўлюбёным будынкам лонданцаў [Why a Belarusian church has become admired by the Londoners], 29 July 2017

References