Stirling fever hots up as RIBA announces 54 National Awards

A floating church, a home perched on a water tower, brutalist council offices given new life as a high-end hotel and key worker housing at Cambridge University are among 54 winners of this year’s RIBA National Awards.

Today’s announcement will trigger feverish speculation about which buildings will make it on to the Stirling Prize shortlist which is due to be announced next week.

The National Awards are viewed by many as the long-list for UK architecture’s highest accolade.

This year’s awards “showcase the extraordinary breadth and brilliance of UK architecture today”, said the judges.

They pulled some key trends from the list of winners, including the sensitive restoration and adaptation of existing buildings, investment in arts and culture and state-of-the-art higher education facilities and schools.

Bennetts Associates pulled off three awards, for new offices for theRoyal College of Pathologistsin London, for the Bayes Centre, a research building for the University of Edinburgh, and for Jaguar Land Rover’s Advanced Product Creation Centre in Warwickshire.

Champing at Bennetts’ heels were Peter Barber Architects, with two London housing schemes, Carmody Groarke, with theWindermere Jetty Museumin Cumbria and theHill House Boxprotecting a Charles Rennie Mackintosh mansion in Helensburgh from water ingress, and Stanton Williams, for itsCambridge housingand aresearch centre at Great Ormond Street.

Honours also went to Stephenson Hamilton Risley Studio for the Oglesby Centre and cafe at Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester, 6a Architects forMK Galleryin Milton Keynes and Ney & Partners and William Matthews Associates for thenew footbridge at Tintagel.

There were also numerous awards for housing schemes, including Mae’s council housing development for people displaced by HS2,Coffey Architects’s Moor’s Nookhousing for older people in Surrey, and Maccreanor Lavington’sBlackfriars Circusdevelopment in south east London.

RIBA President Simon Allford described the winners as an “intelligent and refreshing collection of exemplary projects”.

“Ranging from radical, cutting-edge new designs to clever, creative restorations that breathe new life into historic buildings, these projects illustrate the enduring importance and impact of British architecture,” he said.

“这里有许多设计精美的学校和大学建筑，它们对未来是强有力的投资，我相信它们将激励年轻人、他们的老师和社区。我也很激动地看到许多这样的建筑创造性地利用了现有的结构。精心设计的教育设施应该是规则而不是例外——每个孩子都应该有一个有效的学习环境，这些项目提供了丰富的灵感。

“Looking ahead, as we design the low-carbon future, we must start by exploring the retention and reuse of existing buildings. And when a new building is essential, we need to make sure it will last and serve the future well – so it needs to be flexible and reusable.

“Long-life; loose-fit; low-energy architecture is the present and the future. It is therefore very encouraging to see restoration and sensitive adaptation feature so prominently this year; with many buildings acknowledging their history, the needs of the present and the potential of their dynamic future.

“Arts and culture enrich our lives so, after 18 months of restrictions and isolation, the array of quality new museums, galleries and performance spaces is great to see and visit.”

>> Also read:Building Study: Royal College of Pathologists, London, by Bennetts Associates

>> Also read:Technical Study: North West Cambridge housing by Stanton Williams

The 2021 RIBA National Award winners

East

Cambridge Central Mosque byMarks Barfield Architects

Imperial War Museums Paper Store, Duxford byArchitype

Key Worker Housing, Eddington, Cambridge byStanton Williams

The Water Tower, Norfolk byTonkin Liu

London

95 Peckham Road, SE15 byPeter Barber Architects

Blackfriars Circus, SE1 byMaccreanor Lavington

Caudale Housing Scheme, NW1 byMae Architects

Centre Building at LSE, WC2A byRogers Stirk Harbour & Partners

Centre for Creative Learning, Francis Holland School, SW1W byBDP

English National Ballet at the Mulryan Centre for Dance, E14 byGlenn Howells Architects

Floating Church, E15 byDenizen Works

House-within-a-House byalma-nac

Kingston University London – Town House byGrafton Architects

Moore Park Mews, SW6 byStephen Taylor Architects

North Street, IG11 byPeter Barber Architects

Royal Academy of Arts, W1J byDavid Chipperfield Architects

Royal College of Pathologists, E1 byBennetts Associates

The Ray Farringdon, EC1R byAllford Hall Monaghan Morris

The Rye Apartments, SE15 byTikari Works

The Standard, WC1H byOrms

The Student Centre, UCL, WC1H byNicholas Hare Architects

Tiger Way, E5 byHawkins Brown

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, N17 byPopulous

Wooden Roof, N1 byTsuruta Architects

Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, WC1N byStanton Williams

North East

Lower Mountjoy Teaching and Learning Centre Durham University byFaulkner Browns Architects

North West

Pele Tower House, Lake District byWoollacott Gilmartin Architects

The Gables, Liverpool byDK-Architects

The Oglesby Centre at Hallé St Peter’s, Manchester byStephenson Hamilton Risley Studio

Windermere Jetty Museum byCarmody Groarke

Scotland

Aberdeen Art Gallery byHoskins Architects

Bayes Centre, University of Edinburgh byBennetts Associates

Sport Scotland National Sports Training Centre Inverclyde, Largs, North Ayrshire byReiach and Hall Architects

The Egg Shed, Ardrishaig, Lochgilphead byOliver Chapman Architects

The Hill House Box, Helensburgh byCarmody Groarke

South & South East

Brighton College – School of Science and Sport byOffice for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)

Library and Study Centre St Johns College Oxford University byWright & Wright Architects

MK Gallery, Milton Keynes by6a architects

Moor’s Nook, Woking byCoffey Architects

The Clore Music Studios New College Oxford University byJohn McAslan & Partners

The Dorothy Wadham Building Wadham College Oxford University byAllies and Morrison

The King’s School, Canterbury International College byWalters & Cohen Architects

The Malthouse, The King’s School Canterbury byTim Ronalds Architects

The Narula House, Berkshire byJohn Pardey Architects

Walmer Castle and Gardens Learning Centre, Dover byAdam Richards Architects

Winchester Cathedral South Transept Exhibition Spaces byNick Cox Architectswith Metaphor

South West

Bath Schools of Art and Design byGrimshaw

Redhill Barn, Devon byType Studio

The Story of Gardening Museum, Somerset byStonewood DesignwithMark Thomas ArchitectsandHenry Fagan Engineering

Tintagel Castle Footbridge for English Heritage, Cornwall byNey & PartnersandWilliam Matthews Associates

Windward House, Gloucestershire byAlison Brooks Architects

Wales

Maggie’s Cardiff byDow Jones Architects

West Midlands

Jaguar Land Rover Advanced Product Creation Centre, Warwickshire byBennetts Associates

Prof Lord Bhattacharyya Building, University of Warwick byCullinan Studio