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RIBA National Awards 2016 winners

RIBA Awards are the most rigorous and prestigious awards for new buildings in the UK.

23 June 2016

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (Thursday 23 June 2016) announced the winners of the 2016 RIBA National Awards, the most rigorous and prestigious awards for new buildings in the UK.

RIBA National Award-winning buildings set the standard for good architecture. The shortlist for the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best building of the year will be drawn from the 46 award-winning buildings announced today.

Award winners include a children’s hospital in Liverpool with a striking, undulating grass roof (Alder Hey Children's Hospital), a development of 76 new homes in pastoral Essex that challenges the blight of uninspiring new housing estates by incorporating the character and pattern of the local town (The Avenue), a beautifully-detailed motorway services in the Cotswolds that offers tired motorists a tranquil respite (Gloucester Services), a new shimmering stainless steel library at an Oxford college by the late Zaha Hadid’s firm; and the classy and elegant transformation of a failing secondary and special needs school in south London (ARK All Saints Academy and Highshore School) by the architects of last year’s RIBA Stirling Prize winner.

Other highlights include:

  • A blue, cave-like curved steel small pavilion building in Bournemouth, the first dedicated drawing studio to be built in a British art school for a century (Drawing Studio)
  • 60 new cost-effective single-storey council homes for elderly and disabled people in Greenwich on the site of former garages – a new model for public housing (Greenwich Housing)
  • The conservation and renewal of a dilapidated Grade II* Georgian music hall in London's East End, retaining its cherished atmosphere (Wilton's Music Hall)
  • A state-of the-art new college building on the River Clyde that creates a new urban block for Glasgow and generous new civic spaces for the city (Saunders Centre, Science & Technology Building, Glasgow Academy)
  • The reinvigoration and extension of a much loved art gallery in York, clad in beautiful tiles, reflecting the ceramic art collection on display in the new roof space gallery (York Art Gallery)
  • The bold and colourful re-working of a Victorian inner-city secondary school site in one of the most deprived parts of London (Regent High School)
  • An elegant new college on the Wirral that acts as an ‘essay in construction’ for its students by instilling the ethic of quality workmanship - over 300 students from the college helped with its construction (Wirral Metropolitan College)
  • A beautifully-crafted new office building in London's affluent St James's Square conservation area that sets a new local benchmark for its enlightened architectural approach and refined use of materials (8 St James's Square)

Speaking today, RIBA President Jane Duncan said:

“The RIBA National Awards are a great indicator of UK design, economic and construction trends.

“One stand-out trend from this year’s crop of winners is the huge scale of investment and ambition shown by many of the UK’s universities and colleges; almost one quarter of the winning projects (11 buildings) are in this category. As universities and colleges in the UK are competing for students from here and overseas, it is encouraging to see so much emphasis placed on the power of architecture to help institutions to attract students and stand out from the mediocre.

“I am delighted to see that four fantastic school buildings have made the grade too. Too many of our school and education buildings are in disrepair; with limited funding available to provide our children and their teachers with great learning spaces, every penny spent on schools must deliver maximum value for money.

“I am pleased to see a strong selection of new housing developments amongst our winners, including new models for public housing and semi-rural development. We urgently need new homes, but too often we see projects which have cut corners in quality which fails the people these new homes are meant to serve. I hope these achievements in housing inspire other developers.

“The RIBA National Awards put a spotlight on some of the smaller and unique, but no less ambitious, projects such as the Drawing Studio at Bournemouth University, Gloucester Services or the conservation and reinvigoration of Wilton’s Music Hall. They show that budget, location or many other challenges are no constraints to the production of superb quality architecture as long as you have the commitment of an imaginative and capable architect working with a great client. These 46 buildings are what the best architecture looks like today.”

The winners of the 2016 RIBA National Awards are:

Winning project Architect Area of UK Typology

51 Hills Road

Gort Scott Ltd

Cambridge, England

Office, commercial

61 Oxford Street

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Soho, London, England

Mixed use – retail, office and multi-dwelling residential

8 St James's Square

Eric Parry Architects

City of Westminster, London, England

Office, commercial

A Private House in Cumbria

Bennetts Associates

Cumbria, England

Single dwelling, residential

A Private House in Northamptonshire

James Gorst Architects Limited

Northamptonshire, England

Single dwelling, residential

Alder Hey Children's Hospital

BDP

Liverpool, England

Hospital, healthcare

ARK All Saints Academy and Highshore School

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Camberwell, London, England

Mixed, non-selective secondary school, education

Banbridge Health and Care Centre

Kennedy FitzGerald Architects and Avanti Architects

Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland

Healthcare, community

Blavatnik School of Government

Herzog & de Meuron

Oxford, England

University, education

Bob Champion Research and Education Building

Hawkins\Brown

Norwich, England

University, education

City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus

Michael Laird Architects/Reiach and Hall Architects

Glasgow, Scotland

Further education college, education

Corner House

DSDHA

Fitzrovia, London, England

Multi-dwelling, residential

Davenies School

DSDHA

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England

Independent day school, education

Derry Avenue

Bell Phillips Architects

South Ockendon, Essex, England

Multi-dwelling, residential

Drawing Studio

CRAB studio (Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau Limited)

Poole, Dorset, England

University, education

Ely Court

Alison Brooks Architects Ltd

South Kilburn, London, England

Multi-dwelling, residential

Essex University - Albert Sloman Library and Silberrad Student Centre

Patel Taylor

Colchester, England

University, education

Gloucester Services

Glenn Howells Architects

Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England

Retail, commercial

Greenwich Gateway Pavilions

Marks Barfield Architects

Greenwich, London England

Gallery, bistro, café, commercial and community

Greenwich Housing

Bell Phillips Architects

Greenwich, London England

Council houses, Multi-dwelling, residential

Heart of Campus, Nottingham Trent University

Evans Vettori

Nottingham, England

University , education

Hebburn Central

FaulknerBrowns Architects

Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, England

Leisure, community

Library, education

HOME

Mecanoo

Manchester, England

Gallery, cinema, theatre, cultural

House of Trace

Tsuruta Architects

Lewisham, London, England

Single dwelling, residential

Laidlaw Library, University of Leeds

ADP LLP

Leeds, England

University, education

Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute

Allies and Morrison and PM Devereux

Denmark Hill, London, England

University, education

Murphy House Edinburgh, Scotland

Richard Murphy Architects

Edinburgh, Scotland

Single dwelling, residential

National Graphene Institute

Jestico + Whiles

Manchester, England

University education

New QEII Hospital

Penoyre & Prasad LLP

Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England

Hospital, healthcare

Newport Street Gallery

Caruso St John Architects

Vauxhall, London, England

Gallery, cultural

Outhouse

Loyn & Co Architects

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England

Single dwelling, residential

Regent High School,

Walters & Cohen Architects

Somers Town, London, England

Co-educational comprehensive secondary education

Royal Road

Panter Hudspith Architects

Elephant & Castle, London, England

Multi-dwelling, residential

Saunders Centre, Science & Technology Building

Page \ Park Architects

Glasgow, Scotland

Independent private school, education

Sir John Soane Museum

Julian Harrap Architects LLP

Holborn, London, England

Museum, cultural

Stanbrook Abbey

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

York, Yorkshire, England

Convent, religious

The Avenue

Pollard Thomas Edwards

Saffron Walden, Essex, England

Multi-dwelling, residential

The Cheeran House

john pardey architects

Reading, Berkshire, England

Single dwelling, residential

The Investcorp Building

Zaha Hadid Architects

Oxford, England

University, education

The Portland Collection

Hugh Broughton Architects

Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England

Gallery, cultural

Trafalgar Place

dRMM Architects

Elephant & Castle, London, England

Multi-dwelling, residential

Turnmill

Piercy&Company

Clerkenwell, London, England

Office, commercial

Weston Library

WilkinsonEyre

Oxford, England

University, education

Wilton's Music Hall

Tim Ronalds Architects

Wapping, London, England

Theatre, venue, cultural

Wirral Metropolitan College

Glenn Howells Architects

Wallasey, Merseyside, England

Further education college, education

York Art Gallery

Ushida Findlay Simpson Brown

York, Yorkshire, England

Gallery, cultural

The Architects’ Journal is media partner for the RIBA National Awards and professional media partner for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

ENDS

  1. For further information contact Howard Crosskey howard.crosskey@riba.org +44 (0)20 7307 3761
  2. The Architects’ Journal is media partner for the RIBA National Awards and professional media partner for the RIBA Stirling Prize www.architectsjournal.co.uk
  3. The RIBA Awards have been running continuously since 1966 and are judged and presented locally. No matter the shape, size, budget or location, RIBA Award winning schemes set the standard for great architecture all across the country. RIBA Awards are for buildings in the UK by RIBA Chartered Architects and RIBA International Fellows. Entries are to be submitted to the region or nation in which the building is situated. Winners are considered for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
  4. The 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist will be announced on Thursday 14 July; the winner will be announced on Thursday 6 October 2016.
  5. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members www.architecture.com
  6. Follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates www.twitter.com/RIBA

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