Two of the four houses up for the prestigious Manser Medal, given at the Stirling Prize ceremony in London on Saturday, are in the North, writes Emma Cullinan

TWO of the four buildings up for a major UK housing award this Saturday are in Northern Ireland, by Belfast-based practices. On the evening that the Stirling Prize is announced, by the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), the Manser Medal for the UK's best home is also given.

The four contenders include the Dowling House in Cultra, Co Down, by Hackett and Hall architects and a house in Randalstown, Co Antrim, by Alan Jones Architects.

The others on the shortlist are a house in Essex by Alison Brooks Architects and one in London by Jamie Fobert Architects.

The two northern houses marry both traditional and contemporary styles, with the Hackett and Hall design being a modern take on a Victorian villa and Alan Jones' own family home being in the shape of a traditional pitched roof house but clad in dark fibre-cement panels.

This pared, armoured exterior - in which even gutters and downpipes are hidden - hides an open interior lit by tall windows stepped along the south side of the building.

Architect Alan Jones refers to it as a "Jekyll and Hyde" structure because of its dark and light characteristics. The ground floor has high ceilings, is generously lit from the south-facing glass as well as roof lights.

"Each morning, as soon as the suns rises, our house has sunshine inside, which says with us until the sun sets," says Laura Jones, Alan's wife.

The 20-metre by 7-metre open-plan ground floor can be subdivided with full-height pivoting and sliding screens, to convert the space into a series of small rooms. "The internal concrete is a talking point with visitors," says Laura. "They go up and touch it. They find it hard to believe it is simple, plain concrete. The colour and texture add warmth and give a contrast to the shiny lacquered kitchen furniture and the plaster walls and ceiling."

Upstairs there are four large bedrooms in a space that could have accommodated five.

The house has no attic or dormers, so these are very private top-lit spaces with sloping ceilings.

The Dowling house by Hackett and Hall also has large living spaces, with the kitchen, utility, dining and family rooms on the ground floor as well as a large high ceilinged livingroom on the middle floor.

This was conceived as a sort of piano nobile, an idea the architects developed after consultation with their clients who had lived in a property on the site for a number of years and had enjoyed the views from the first floor.

This elevated living area has a huge window framing the trees and is accessed from the ground floor via an open staircase.

A "hidden" staircase at the rear of the house links the ground floor with the bedrooms: the main one on the first floor and three more on the top floor.

While neatly detailed, the front of this house is more animated than the Alan Jones home, with a darker colour render at the base - in a reference to the rusticated bases of classical buildings - and a lighter top.

Further surface detailing has been achieved with recessed windows and custom-made concrete lintels.

Each of the bands of render has been treated as separate elements on which to have different sizes of window.

Both houses are well insulated to reduce heating costs. And the Alan Jones house includes a ground source heat pump.

One of the judges is Simon Knox of Knox Bavan Architects who won the award last year and a previous winner was the house of comedian Jenny Eclair in London by Robert Dye Associates.

The Stirling Prize ceremony takes place in the converted Roundhouse, near Camden Lock market in London, and will be presented on television by Kevin McCloud.

The Stirling Prize shortlist

America's Cup Building, Valencia, Spain, by David Chipperfield Architects

Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach am Neckar, Germany, by David Chipperfield Architects

Dresden Station Redevelopment, Dresden, Germany, by Foster + Partners

The Savill Building, Windsor, UK, by Glenn Howells Architects

Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal, by Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Arup-AFA

Young Vic Theatre, London, by Haworth Tompkins.

The jury comprises:

Tom Bloxham, Urban Splash

Alain de Botton, author and philosopher; Louisa Hutton, architect

Kieran Long, editor, The Architects' Journal Sunand Prasad, architect and RIBA President