Zaha Hadid's Jockey Club Innovation Tower receives a RIBA International Award for Excellence

The big reveal for the RIBA International Prize's very first winner won't happen until next month, but we can ogle at some of the longlisted projects in the meantime — like Zaha Hadid's Jockey Club Innovation Tower at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, for starters. No surprise that Zaha Hadid Architects has been doing well in this new RIBA award competition. The award committee thought the 30 longlisted projects were of such stellar quality that they decided to award a (not-so-distinctly-named) RIBA International Prize for Excellence to 21 projects, which includes the Jockey Club Innovation Tower. In addition to that, ZHA's widely known Heydar Aliyev Center in Azerbaijan is currently shortlisted for the RIBA International Prize with five other equally competitive projects. 

Read on for more.

Built in a narrow irregular site at the northeastern edge of the campus, the 15-story, 15,000 square-meter Jockey Club Innovation Tower is home to the School of Design and the Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation. Used by more than 1,800 students and staff, the geometric building is equipped with all the essential facilities needed for a design education, such as design studios, labs, workshops, exhibition spaces, multi-purpose classrooms, a lecture theater, and a communal lounge. And as Zaha Hadid always did with her designs, the building is full of engaging geometric forms and details that add to the experience.

Find a video of the project as well as drawings in the image gallery below.

All images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects.