RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist 2008

A shortlist of six buildings has been chosen from winners of 2008 RIBA National Awards and RIBA European Awards. These projects will be visited in September by members of the RIBA Stirling Prize jury.

The shortlist for 2008 comprises:

Accordia
Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios/Alison Brooks Architects/Macreanor Lavington
Client: Countryside Properties
Copyright: Tim Crocker
Awards: RIBA Award

This is high density housing at its very best. Beautifully thought-through houses are linked by a series of public, semi-public and private but visible open spaces, making the whole development a joy to walk through. Houses and flats have good-sized, well-proportioned rooms with views out ranging from the urban views to rural pasture. This development proves that good modern housing sells, that a committed local authority can have a very positive influence on the design, that a masterplan with a range of architects can be successful and that the very best architecture does not need to rely on gimmicks. This will be a project that will be much referred to and used a future case study.

Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA Station
Architect: Grimshaw/Arcadis
Client: Prorail/City of Amsterdam
Copyright: Ger van der Vlugt
Awards: RIBA European Award

There is something heroic about this project. Formally heroic in that a complex and large chunk of city has been grasped and made sense of; operationally heroic in that two practices - one Dutch the other English – have come together with the city of Amsterdam to make this happen.

With the tracks above ground (and given an extra two metres height in the development of the design) the opportunity has been taken to make a real difference at ground level. To the north/west a very broad promenade has been established to the Ajax Stadium, which attracts huge crowds, and a bus station sitting effortlessly under the tracks establishing the station also as a place of interchange. The east/west 70 metre wide connection under the tracks is to be consolidated with a parade of shops opposite the ticket hall. To the east the great flat arch of the station completes the existing square performing the role of a public loggia. This square is also the face of the very large and notorious Bijlmer public housing project behind.

The architectural key to the project is the interpretation of the gaps between the tracks and the ways in which these have been transformed to make lofty and enjoyable public spaces between the ground and the platforms above,

linked diagonally with escalators, vertically by glazed lift towers, horizontally by the platforms themselves. The arriving and departing trains and the leisurely procession of passengers make for a remarkable piece of drama.

Manchester Civil Justice Centre
Architect: Denton Corker Marshall
Client: Allied London
Copyright: Tim Griffith
Awards: RIBA Award

The Manchester Civil Justice Centre is the largest court building to be built in the UK since the Royal Courts of Justice. This pioneering new building separates civil and criminal justice systems, creating a new civic building that is open and accessible. The working courts and offices are expressed as rectilinear forms, articulated at each floor level. The building is an elegant and beautifully executed response to a complex brief that has made a significant contribution to the regeneration this part of Manchester.

The architectural expression and resolution of the environmental design sets this building apart. Environmental sustainability has been integrated into the design from the start; natural ventilation to all areas and a mixed-mode ventilation system serving the court rooms contributes to the BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’.

Nordpark Cable Railway
Architect: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher
Client: Nordpark
Copyright: Werner Huthmacher
Awards: RIBA European Award

A new railway line has been built to connect the mountain village of Hungerburg with the centre of Innsbruck. It will be used by tourists to access high slopes, connect villagers to the urban area.

The construction of the railway is a considerable achievement in its own right. The architects worked closely with the rail engineers to produce station buildings that would appropriately celebrate the entire infrastructure.

Zaha Hadid Architects designed all four stations along the route. The designs are all variations on a suite of parts made up of concrete station platforms, lifts, stairs and sensuous protective canopies. The key relationship within each composition is between the concrete which forms a supporting platform, and the over-sailing canopy that acts as a heraldic signal to announce the presence of the station.

The base can be read as a moraine, connected to the earth but given form by a glacier. The canopy can be imagined as like the glacier itself, a changeable, luminous monolith curved as if shaped by melt water.

The construction of the three dimensionally curved glass forms is an achievement of great virtuosity. In the development of Zaha Hadid’s architecture from drawing to construction, this project represents a milestone in achieved form.

Royal Festival Hall
Architect: Allies and Morrison
Client: Ian Blackburn
Copyright: Dennis Gilbert
Awards: RIBA Award

The Festival Hall has been restored to its original elegance and vitality. Rick Mather’s masterplan for the South Bank identified the potential for an office building between the hall and the railway line, which was the masterstroke at the root of the transformation. By moving all the administrative offices into this new office building, Allies and Morrison were able to liberate many of the internal spaces previously used as offices.

They have restored the legibility and essence of the original architecture and re-established the Festival Hall as a major international venue. On the river façade, a dingy service road has been transformed into an elegant parade of restaurants and shops. With landscaping by Gross Max, the river terrace is proving to be a successful urban space.

Westminster Academy
Architect: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Client: Westminster Academy/ Westminster Council
Copyright: Tim Soar
Awards: RIBA Award

The Academy provides a striking presence ringed by the Westway, the railway and high rise local authority estates. To enter the building you arrive in a generous open area, an inner courtyard that rises up through the building. The basic organisation is teaching and support spaces around the edges with a large full height court at the centre. The arrangement allows high levels of visibility for both staff and students. The graphic signage contributes a level of spirited corporate identity that traditional schools lack.

Externally the treatment of the façade, using green banded aluminium panels produces a building of very singular identity that suggests a commercial rather than institutional user. The staff and governors who were highly involved in the development of core ideas are immensely excited and proud of their building.