Hasta La Ideas

The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the 49 winners of its national awards, including the Tate St Ives, Bloomberg’s Foster + Partners-designed London HQ, and a housing development in old gasholders.

Recognising the best buildings of the past 12 months, the RIBA National Awards 2018 includes major public and commercial projects from the Britain’s major cities to private buildings in remote locations.

“For over 50 years the RIBA Awards have celebrated the best new buildings, large or small; shining a light on trends in the construction industry, and illustrating why the UK’s architects and architecture have an enviable global reputation,” said RIBA president Ben Derbyshire.

“I am particularly pleased to see some excellent examples of large-scale housing schemes amongst this year’s winners,” he continued.

“Projects such as these are beacons showing how it is possible for enlightened local authorities and developers to create the well-designed, desirable and sustainable homes that communities so desperately need.”

“From exceptional mixed-use buildings that bring a community together, and breathing new life into dilapidated historic buildings, to getting the best value from an awkward site or limited budget, every one of this year’s award winners is a testament to the architects’ skill in solving a range of challenges to create projects that will inspire and delight their users and communities for years to come,” he added.

The high quality housing schemes include the redevelopment of the King’s Crescent Estate in Hackney, and the first phase of the Royal Albert Wharf, also in east London, where Maccreanor Lavington are designing over 200 new homes, over half of which will be affordable.

Another winning London project – indeed many of the projects are London-centric – was WilkinsonEyre’s Gasholders, which delivered new homes built inside the Grade-II listed industrial frames of the gasworks behind King’s Cross. Ro

und the corner Duggan Morris Architects’ R7 building, with its millenial pink facade, was also named a winner.

Large offices such as Foster + Partners headquarters for Bloomberg and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ Leadenhall Building were also winners. Projects on the smaller side were championed too, with particular mention made of Arboreal Architecture’s Bethnal Green Memorial, and a sustainable home in the West Highlands designed by HaysomWardMiller Architects.

This year’s winners also included several cultural buildings including, the new Tate St Ives building by Jamie Fobert Architects, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, and AL_A’s extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

RIBA noted that several of these projects were careful to be sensitive to the context, with AL_A using simple ceramic tiles to clad the new entrance to the museum. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris were also singled out for their tactful renovation of Liverpool’s Royal Court theatre.

Repurposing buildings for offices while retaining their character was another key theme, with special mention being given to Piercy&Company’s 25 Savile Row, which saw a new steel staircase suspended in the atrium of the art deco building.

The judges also praised practices that had produced projects that gave back to the local community in some form, such as Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery, where MUMA creatively combined a nursery and community hall using courtyard architecture, and Bennett Associate’s renovation of an art deco cinema in that now serves as a library during the day and a theatre after hours.

No matter the client or the budget the awards, which have been running since 1966, aim to highlight the best that British architecture has to offer. It is from this list that the shortlist for the 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize will be drawn and announced next month.

Scroll down for the full list of winners of the RIBA National Awards 2017:

› 15 Clerkenwell Close, by Groupwork + Amin Taha Architects
› 25 Savile Row, by Piercy&Company
› 53 Great Suffolk Street, by HawkinsBrown
› Albert Works, by Cartwright Pickard Architects
› Bethnal Green Memorial, by Arboreal Architecture
› Bloomberg, London, by Foster + Partners
› Boroughmuir High School, by Allan Murray Architects
› Bushey Cemetery, by Waugh Thistleton Architects
› Caroline Place, by Amin Taha + Groupwork
› Chadwick Hall, by Henley Halebrown
› City of London Freemen’s School, Swimming Pool, by HawkinsBrown
› Coastal House, by 6a Architects

› Durham Cathedral Open Treasure, by Durham Cathedral
› Five Acre Barn, by Blee Halligan
› Gasholders, by WilkinsonEyre with Jonathan Tuckey Design
› Kings Crescent Estate Phases 1 and 2, by Karakusevic Carson Architects with Henley Halebrow
› Kingsgate Primary Lower School, by Maccreanor Lavington Architects
› Knox Bhavan Studio, by Knox Bhavan Architects
› Liverpool’s Royal Court, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
› Lochside House, by HaysomWardMiller Architects
› Maggie’s Oldham, by dRMM Architects
› Marlborough Primary School, by Dixon Jones
› New Tate St Ives, by Jamie Fobert Architects with Evans & Shalev
› Nucleus, The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Caithness Archive, by Reiach and Hall Architects

› Old Shed New House, by Tonkin Liu
› R7, Kings Cross, by Duggan Morris Architects with Weedon Architects
› Riverlight, by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners with EPR Architects
› Royal Academy of Music – The Angela Burgess Recital Hall and The Susie Sainsbury Theatre, by Ian Ritchie Architects
› Royal Albert Wharf Phase 1, by Maccreanor Lavington
› Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
› Shaftesbury Theatre, by Bennetts Associates
› Sibson Building, by Penoyre & Prasad
› St Augustines Church, by Roz Barr Architects
› St David’s Hospice, New In- Patient Unit, by KKE Architects
› Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery, by MUMA
› Storyhouse, by Bennetts Associates with Ellis Williams

› The David Attenborough Building, by Nicholas Hare Architects
› The Department Store, by Squire and Partners
› The Leadenhall Building, by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
› The Piece Hall and Calderdale Central Library and Archives, by LDN Architects
› The Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, by Niall McLaughlin Architects
› University of Birmingham Indoor Sports Centre, by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
› University of Roehampton Library, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
› Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter, by AL_A
› Victoria Hall King’s Cross (student accommodation), by Stanton Williams
› Walthamstow Wetlands, by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
› West Court Jesus College, by Niall McLaughlin Architects
› Weston Street, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
› White Collar Factory, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

The post RIBA reveals best British architecture for 2018 appeared first on Dezeen.