London 2012 Olympic stadium shortlisted for RIBA Stirling prize
25-07-2012
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The shortlist features six exceptional and completely different buildings from across the country which will now go head to head for architecture’s highest accolade and a £20,000 prize from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
The RIBA Stirling Prize is now in its seventeenth year and the 2012 winner will be announced at a special event in Manchester on Saturday 13 October.
It also includes Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Glasgow, the Hepworth Wakefield gallery in Yorkshire, the Sainsbury Laboratory for plant science in Cambridge, the New Court Rothschild Bank in London and the reincarnation of the Lyric Theatre on a small suburban site in Belfast.
Heritage and education are strong themes in this year’s shortlist with the success of the Sainsbury Laboratory housing Darwin’s collection, New Court’s careful integration of the Rothschild’s art collection into its design and both the Lyric Theatre and Hepworth Wakefield skilfully creating exceptional new homes for regional arts.
The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire by David Chipperfield Architects has been given odds of odds 3/1 to win from bookmakers William Hill. 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.
London Olympic Stadium by Populous has odds of 5/1 and it 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 and 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.
The Lyric Theatre, Belfast by O’Donnell + Tuomey has odds of 4/1 and it is the fourth time that the Dublin based practice has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and their second year running. Last year their An Gaelaras cultural centre in Derry was shortlisted.
Maggie’s Centre, Gartnavel, Glasgow by OMA with odds of 9/2 has been designed to create an environment of practical and emotional support for people with cancer. 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.
New Court, London by OMA with Allies and Morrison with odds of 4/1 had to create and imaginative building in a very constrained site. Rothschild’s Bank have been on the same site since 1809. In replacing their previous 1960s building 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.
Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge by Stanton Williams has odds of 7/2 and it is the first time that Stanton Williams have been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize. The laboratory is designed to complement its setting and mixes the private and the public so that the security and complex scientific needs of a laboratory works with a public botanic garden café.
‘The annual RIBA Stirling Prize celebrates architectural excellence and this year we have an incredibly strong list of contenders. All of the shortlisted buildings demonstrate the essence of great architecture. They are human scale buildings, places to inspire, entertain, educate and comfort their visitors and passers by. Every building not only works beautifully from within but has a superb relationship with its surroundings, with a strong interplay between the two,’ said RIBA president Angela Brady.
