2012 RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist Announced

Jul 23

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Six buildings have been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize, including the London Olympic Stadium by Populous (above) and two projects by OMA. The six, which will compete for the £20,000 prize for the best building by a British-registered architect, are:

1. The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire by David Chipperfield Architects

David Chipperfield Architects are the only previous RIBA Stirling Prize winner amongst this year’s shortlisted architects, having won in 2007 for the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany. This is the eighth time that David Chipperfield Architects has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, and the third year running; they now match Foster + Partners who have also been shortlisted for the prize eight times.

- The Hepworth Wakefield is characterized by a series of 10 small, irregular, trapezoidal blocks that make up the structure of the gallery, giving it a sculptural appearance, in reference to its contents.

- From the outside, the gallery is interesting to look at from any angle with the smaller blocks complementing the scale and form of the existing industrial buildings on the site. Inside, the ten blocks create a series of relaxed and intimate exhibition spaces, with great flow and movement between interconnecting rooms.

- The building responds imaginatively to its riverside location. Being at the head of the river divide, two sides of gallery are river facing. The gallery rises straight from the river and the whole building is reflected in the water. Carefully placed windows offer strategic views.

- The gallery sources renewable energy in the form of heating and cooling from the river’s flow.

- The distinctive dusky mauve colour of the concrete gives the building a unique identity.

2. London Olympic Stadium by Populous

This is the first time that Populous has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize

- The stadium has been designed so that it can be taken down and reused in another location – or taken apart and made smaller.

- The design team aimed to create the most sustainable Olympic stadium to date, reducing the amount of steel and concrete needed, making it one of the lightest stadia of the modern era.

- It has a sunken arena so the ground level entrance is actually half-way up the stadium – reducing the number of stairs spectators have to climb to the upper tiers.

- The stadium is surrounded by water, so once visitors have shown their ticket and crossed the bridge they are more free to move around than at most stadiums.

- There is a spirit of fun – they have designed a space to create an amazing atmosphere, where every seat has a great view.

3. The Lyric Theatre, Belfast by O’Donnell + Tuomey

O’Donnell + Tuomey are a Dublin-based practice. This is the fourth time they have been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and their second year running: last year their An Gaelaras cultural centre in Derry was shortlisted.

- The architects have responded superbly to considerable challenges, including the building’s small, awkwardly irregular and steeply sloping site.

- The distinctive red ‘Belfast brick’ echoes the existing south Belfast residential landscape.

- The architects have created an exceptional auditorium – aiming for the seating to be twisted ‘like the crease of a hand’ so that people could see each other and to save actors from performing to a symmetrically divided audience. The auditorium has a special, sculptural interior and incredible acoustics.

- The extensive use of glass maximises the presence of natural light in the public spaces and ensures that the magnificent view of the river can be enjoyed to its full potential.

4. Maggie’s Centre, Gartnavel, Glasgow by OMA

This is the second time that OMA has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and it is the only practice to have two buildings on the 2012 shortlist. In 2007 OMA’s Casa da Musica in Portugal was shortlisted. Rem Koolhaas, who founded OMA, had known Maggie Keswick Jencks (after whom the Maggie’s Centres are named) since the 1960s. Lily Jencks, Maggie’s daughter, was the landscape designer on the project.

- The building succeeds in the central aim of all Maggie’s Centres – to create an environment of practical and emotional support for people with cancer. They aim to kindle a sense of curiosity and imagination – to be grand in ambition but small in scale.

- The distinctive ‘doughnut’ shape of the centre allows for all the rooms to surround an internal landscaped garden.

- Located in a natural setting, like a pavilion in the woods (in fact, the old hospital carpark, now landscaped) the building looks both out to the woods and into the garden giving it a sense of being extroverted and introverted.

- There are no corridors or isolated rooms, but a series of interlocking spaces with a clever use of sliding walls to open and close areas, offering flexibility.

5. New Court, London by OMA with Allies and Morrison

OMA’s second building on this year’s shortlist. Allies and Morrison has previously been shortlisted twice for the prize.

- Rothschild’s Bank have been on the same site since 1809. In replacing their previous 1960s building, the architects created an imaginative solution to a very constrained site (part of the Bank Conservation Area).

- The new building opens up views to a Wren church by cleverly creating a pathway towards the church and generous sight lines from the pavement.

- The architects have created a synthesis between an office and a museum. New Court is a showcase for the Rothschild art collection, aspects of which have been carefully incorporated into the design of the building.

- The building has a superb attention to detail; the materials used create a strong sense of understated elegance.

6. Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge by Stanton Williams

This is the first time that Stanton Williams have been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

- The laboratory is carefully designed to complement its setting – the relationship to the surrounding 19th century, Grade II listed garden is central to the building’s identity.

- It cleverly mixes the private and the public – the security and complex scientific needs of a laboratory with a public botanic garden café.

- The architects have created a stimulating working environment to attract world-class scientists, including sociable spaces and smaller meeting points alongside research spaces.

- It is a highly energy efficient building – rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in two huge tanks which irrigate the garden’s glasshouse and plant chambers.

via dezeen.com