The RIBA Stirling Prize 2008 - architeria.eu

CONTENDERS FOR THE RIBA's PRESTIGIOUS STIRLING PRIZE 2008

The RIBA Stirling Prize in association with The Architects’ Journal is the UK’s most prestigious architectural
prize and is awarded annually to the architects of the building which has made the greatest contribution
to British architecture in the past year. The RIBA awards programme was re-organised in 2007 in a
pyramid structure. The RIBA Awards are judged and presented locally and the the RIBA National
Awards are judged and presented nationally. The RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist is selected following
further visits to winners of the RIBA National Awards and of RIBA European Awards for buildings
in the rest of the EU.

From 2008 the RIBA Stirling Prize becomes a ‘built or designed in Britain’ prize, for which only buildings
in the UK designed by RIBA chartered members and International Fellows, or buildings in the rest
of the EU by practices whose principal office in the UK, will be eligible.

A pioneering court building in Manchester, a dramatic Cable Railway in Austria, the restoration of London’s
Royal Festival Hall and the vibrant Westminster Academy in London are among the six buildings which have
made it on to this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects shortlist for The RIBA Stirling Prize in association
with The Architects’ Journal . The £20,000 prize is awarded to the architects of the building that has made
the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year.

The RIBA Stirling Prize jury, which will visit all six shortlisted buildings and then meet for a final time on the day
of the presentation to pick the winner, which comprises architecture specialists and lay judges from the arts.
The 2008 judges are Gordon Murray – architect, Murray Dunlop Architects; Shelley McNamara – architect,
Grafton Architects; Ben van Berkel – architect, UN Studio in the Netherlands; Kieran Long – Editor,
The Architects’ Journal and Lauren Laverne – presenter of BBC’s The Culture Show.

The winner of the The RIBA Stirling Prize in association with The Architects’ Journal will be announced in
Liverpool on Saturday 11 October 2008 and broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday 12 October.

Previous winners include Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers Partnership, The Scottish Parliament by
EMBT / RMJM Ltd, 30 St. Mary Axe by Foster + Partners, the Laban Centre by Herzog & de Meuron,
Gateshead Millennium Bridge by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, and the Museum of Modern Literature at
Marbach am Neckar, Germany.

The RIBA is proud to have Autodesk, Buro Happold and SIV Architectural Career Management as Associate
Sponsors of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2008.

The six buildings competing for this year’s title are:

1. Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Manchester by Denton Corker Marshall
2. Royal Festival Hall, London by Allies and Morrison
3. Westminster Academy at the Naim Dangoor Centre, London, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
4. Nord Park Cable Railway, Austria by Zaha Hadid Architects
5. Accordia, Cambridge by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios/Alison Brooks Architects/Maccreanor Lavington
6. Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena Station, Amsterdam, Netherlands by Grimshaw/ARCADIS Architecten

MANCHESTER CIVIL JUSTICE CENTRE, MANCHESTER
by Denton Corker Marshall
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'.

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, LONDON
by Allies and Morrison
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 AT THE NAIM DANGOOR CENTRE, LONDON
by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
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.

NORD PARK CABLE RAILWAY, AUSTRIA
by Zaha Hadid Architects
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.
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.

ACCORDIA, CAMBRIDGE
by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios/Alison Brooks Architects/Macreanor Lavington
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, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
by Grimshaw/ARCADIS Architecten
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 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.