Teams from some of the world’s leading architectural practices swapped CAD for cakes on Saturday (27 June), as they locked horns in the Great Architectural Cake Bake-Off.

Teams from Zaha Hadid Architects, Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, Squire + Partners, ARUP, HOK, BDP and Foster + Partners gathered for one of the more light-hearted events to feature during the London Festival of Architecture. The competition was conceived and hosted by global design firm WATG, which is celebrating 70 years of business in 2015, as well as the 25th anniversary of its London office.

Teams were given an hour and a half to create and construct distinctive, edible recreations of iconic London buildings. They were provided with a selection of materials, including sponges, chocolate fingers and icing, but were able to bring additional edible items. Typically creative, the teams incorporated jelly, sticks of rock, Oreo biscuits, sculpted sugar glass, edible silver spray, liquorice and honeycomb into their entries.

The most exciting additions were the tools used to create the masterpieces, which included blow torches and Dremel Drills.

“The teams turned up wearing team aprons, which added to the team spirit," said WATG's Ashley Fauguel, who came up with the idea for the event. "The teams collaborated brilliantly, sharing ingredients and space. You could see from the design sketches, ideas and ingredients brought along how much preparation and rehearsal had gone into the day.”

The judging panel comprised Maxie Giertz, a cake development expert from Konditor & Cook; Gavin Hutchison, chair of Cities of London and Westminster Society of Architects (CLAWSA); and Jennifer de Vere-Hopkins, an associate from Jestico + Whiles. The judges based their decisions on creativity, technical skills/execution, most realistic representation, teamwork and taste.

The panel was bowled over by the level of skill and innovation on show, but eventually whittled the entries down to a final three. Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners came in third place with their Oreo and sugar glass interpretation of Lloyds of London. The team from Zaha Hadid Architects took second place with their portrayal of Tower Bridge, including a jelly river and cake flotilla. But in first place – with their creation of a jelly Serpentine Pavilion lit from below with a light box – were Squire + Partners, who wowed the judges with their ingenuity.

WATG associate VP Nicole Hammond said: “This would make an exciting annual event, the design firms who have participated have had a fantastic time swapping designing buildings to be made with bricks and mortar into ones that can be created with Battenberg!”

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