2023 RIBA Stirling Prize: the shortlist revealed

The 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize has just announced its shortlist, revealing six buildings, from which the eventual winner will scoop the top gong in UK architecture. The prestigious competition, one of the world's most highly respected accolades in its field, sponsored this year by Autodesk, has been championing excellence in building design since its inception in 1996. This year's six candidates span housing, community and education spaces, as well as pioneering set-ups that promote creativity, engagement and inclusivity – offering plenty of options and food for thought for the judging panel.

RIBA President Muyiwa Oki, who just started his term this month, said: 'The 2023 Stirling Prize shortlist illustrates why architecture matters to all of us. These six remarkable buildings offer thoughtful, creative responses to the really complex challenges we're facing today. Whether it's tackling loneliness, building communities, or preserving our heritage, these projects lay out bold blueprints for purposeful architecture. Amidst a backdrop of housing shortages, growing inequality, and economic uncertainties, this year's shortlist demonstrates that well-designed buildings can offer genuinely inspiring solutions to our most pressing problems.'

The winner of the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced live in Manchester at a dedicated ceremony on 19 October 2023. Scroll down for more on the shortlisted projects... 

2023 RIBA Stirling Prize: the shortlist

 A House for Artists, Barking, by Apparata architects

Affordable housing, sustainable architecture, and artistic creativity; all roll into one in this latest project by Apparata architects in Barking town centre in east London. A House for Artists is a new multi-family residential project, conceived as a replicable model for flexible living space that promotes civic engagement and community-building. It was brought to life by Create London, an independent agency that commissions art and architecture in the public realm, and London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, and it’s a scheme that aims to shake up the way we think about housing. A House for Artists, as its name suggests, is set to house 12 artists and their families in a single building, designed by emerging London-based studio Apparata, headed by Nicholas Lobo Brennan, Astrid Smitham and Theo Thysiades. Create London, the organisation behind several acclaimed public-realm projects, co-commissioned the scheme.

Central Somers Town Community Facilities and Housing, Camden, by Adam Khan Architects

This project is part of a wider regeneration scheme, arranging a series of uses around a small park in north London. Social housing, an after-school club, a generous adventure playground, and premises for a theatre education charity are all included in its programme, which has been thoughtfully interpreted by Adam Khan and his team. 

Courtauld Connects – The Courtauld Institute of Art, Westminster, by Witherford Watson Mann architects

One of London's biggest cultural events of 2022, the Courtauld's reimagining by Witherford Watson Mann architects, has made the shortlist, with its contemporary refresh of a historical landmark – which comprised a warren of spaces in an 18th-century building in need of modernisation. 

John Morden Centre, Blackheath, by Mæ

Located in leafy south London, this is a 300-year-old residential and nursing facility that has been masterfully brought into the 21st century by architecture studio Mæ. Alongside accommodation and staff facilities, the new complex now includes treatment rooms, a hair salon, a nail bar, events space and wellbeing areas for residents, among planted outdoor spaces and open interiors that encourage connections inside and out. 

Lavender Hill Courtyard Housing, Clapham, by Sergison Bates architects

Turning a constrained and 'undesirable' urban site into a haven of city living, Lavender Hill Courtyard Housing offers apartments filled with light, joy and architectural inventiveness in an urban scheme that turns heads with its sense of space, generosity and tactile, human qualities. 

University of Warwick – Faculty of Arts, Coventry, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Uniting the departments of arts and humanities under one roof for the University of Warwick, this is a large-scale project that inspires collaboration and cross-pollination. Spaces have been designed with modern, flexible learning in mind – and all is surrounded by greenery, which has been invited in, making the most of the site's parkland context. 

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