Now in its 16th year, the annual RIBA Stirling Prize is the highlight of the architectural award calendar, and is the prize most architects would like to scoop, including us at Woods Hardwick . Aside from the £20,000 prize money, the main jostle is for the instant recognition and kudos of being awarded ‘the best European building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year’. So, who's on the list this year?
The final shortlist of six is chosen from the 97 winners of RIBA awards,
which, as well as the usual suspects of museums, academies and schools, this year, contained a nice offering of innovative and fun designs, imaginative use of materials, texture and colour and real ingenuity; all shaping up for an exciting shortlist……
…….or not, as the case may be.
Instead, we have a very safe shortlist consisting of the ‘big guns’ such as Chipperfield and Hadid who, yes, offer competent, well-mannered schemes (the Folkwang Museum, Germany and the Evelyn Grace Academy in London respectively), but arguably, not their best. And what’s more, they’ve all been shortlisted before, some of them numerous times.
The bookmakers’ favourite (2/1) is, unsurprisingly, the Olympic Velodrome, already nicknamed the ‘Pringle’, by Hopkins Architects. Although it does seem politically correct for this to be the favourite, it has to be said, it does not disappoint. It is graceful, elegant and pleasing to the eye, and has the potential, over time, to become a national icon, so we can’t be too harsh here.
But what about the others? Heralding a shift in architecture, The Angel Building by AHMM or the Royal Shakespeare Theatre by Bennetts Associates would both be worthy and topical winners as they have been retrofitted in a bid to save money and energy.
The Angel building in Islington, London is imaginative and provides good use of the existing concrete central fame. After being stripped back to its frame, it was re-clad as a speculative office block which shaved nearly 15% off the cost of a new building and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about a third, earning the building an Excellent BREEAM rating. A real modern success story, that has already won a couple of awards, and cannot be discounted. The dark horse perhaps?
Bennett Associates’ brief for the 1932 Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford was to slot a new thrust stage into the main auditorium, redesign the public areas and erect a viewing tower, which is what they duly did, as well as saving money and reducing omissions to boot. Although the Theatre now has a very impressive auditorium, the outside isn’t quite up to the same standard, which is a real shame.
One of our favourites is actually the bookies’ rank outsider (8/1), O’Donnell and Tuomey’s An Gaeláras Irish-language arts and culture centre in Derry, Northern Ireland, with their imaginative use of a very restricted site. It adds to the Derry street scape, using a basically triangular theme on plan, sectioned delightfully with the incorporation of bridges, stairs and platforms around the central light well. An absolute joy to look at.
We can’t forget last year’s winner, of course, Zaha Hadid with her Evelyn Grace Academy, although, there’s not too much to say. The Academy is typically her, but nothing of outstanding beauty. Rather than Hadid, for instance, it would’ve been encouraging to see the efforts of clients in supporting designs which inspire and add to their environment reflected in the shortlist. This year has seen an interesting development in the patronage of charitable organisations, with the Woodland Trust HQ, Maggie’s Centre and two RSPB sites winning RIBA awards. The designs for all of these being human and responding to their environment and site, whilst all being wholly individual and avoiding the possibility of just becoming stereotypical. It’s a real shame these were all overlooked.
So, given the mediocre selection, although O’Donnell and Tuomey’s An Gaeláras is a beauty, the safe money has to be on Hopkins’ Olympic Velodrome. Although it is the politically correct winner, you cannot deny it would also be a worthy winner. Lars Huntley, Associate Director at Woods Hardwick summed it up when he said, “I actually have a sneaking admiration for the Olympic Velodrome, which will I hope please for years to come, and not fall into neglect as so many sports facilities have done such as Crystal Palace. All buildings, old and new require long term maintenance, love and care!”
The winner will of the RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced on Saturday 1 October 2011 at the Magna Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham (winner of the 2001 RIBA Stirling Prize). The ceremony will be broadcast on a special edition of BBC Two’s The Culture Show, presented by Kevin McCloud the following day
