RIBA announces the UK’s best buildings for 2018

Five Acre Barn by Blee Halligan RIBA National Awards 2018
The RIBA National Awards for 2018 have just been revealed. Pictured here, the Five Acre Barn by Blee Halligan.
(Image credit: Sarah Blee)
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Anticipation about who will snap a coveted spot among the country’s best architecture of the year has been building, ever since the RIBA announced its regional awards during the spring. Now, the wait is over, as the major architectural institution has just revealed its 2018 National Award winners – a 49-strong list of worthy winners.

The list always comprises a wide range of typologies and scales, as the RIBA awards – with the exception of specific categories, such as the House of the Year – cast the net far and wide across the nation’s newest architectural gems. The result? A series of winners that appear as extensive as possible, ranging from the tiny sculptural Bethnal Green Memorial, which commemorates the 173 people who died in the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943, to large-scale cultural landmarks such as the Tate St Ives, or skyscrapers like the Leadenhall Building in the City of London.

Even so, common threads start to appear across the winning designs. It is a welcome trend that several were created for the direct benefit of local communities, operating with more than a single function – for example, Chester’s Storyhouse, a library-by-day and theatre-by-night. Housing – always a contentious topic in the capital and across the country – also features quite prominently, as does heritage, spanning from reuse and regeneration to the sensitive use of materials.

‘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,’ says RIBA president Ben Derbyshire. 

The next step? The announcement of the 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist of course; which will take place on the 19 July, with the big winner finally crowned this autumn.

53 Great Suffolk by Hawkins\Brown in London.

53 Great Suffolk by Hawkins\Brown in London.

(Image credit: Tim Crocker)

15 Clerkenwell Close by Groupwork + Amin Taha Architects in London.

15 Clerkenwell Close by Groupwork + Amin Taha Architects in London. 

(Image credit: Tim Soar)

25 Savile Row by Piercy&Company in London.

25 Savile Row by Piercy&Company in London.

(Image credit: Jack Hobhouse)

Albert Works by Cartwright Pickard Architects in Yorkshire.

Albert Works by Cartwright Pickard Architects in Yorkshire.

(Image credit: Tom Kahler)

Bethnal Green Memorial by Arboreal Architecture in London.

Bethnal Green Memorial by Arboreal Architecture in London.

(Image credit: Marcela Spadaro)

Bloomberg London by Foster + Partners.

Bloomberg London by Foster + Partners. 

(Image credit: Nigel Young)

Bushey Cemetery by Waugh Thistleton Architects in the East chapter.

Bushey Cemetery by Waugh Thistleton Architects in the East chapter.

(Image credit: Blake Ezra)

Caroline Place by Amin Taha + Groupwork in London.

Caroline Place by Amin Taha + Groupwork in London. 

(Image credit: Tim Soar)

Chadwick Hall by Henley Halebrown in London.

Chadwick Hall by Henley Halebrown in London.

(Image credit: David Grandorge)

City Of London Freemen’s School, Swimming Pool by Hawkins\Brown in the South East.

City Of London Freemen’s School, Swimming Pool by Hawkins\Brown in the South East.

(Image credit: Jack Hobhouse)

Gasholders London by WilkinsonEyre with Jonathan Tuckey Design in London.

Gasholders London by WilkinsonEyre with Jonathan Tuckey Design in London.

(Image credit: Peter Landers)

Kings Crescent Estate Phases 1 and 2 by Karakusevic Carson Architects with Henley Halebrow in London.

Kings Crescent Estate Phases 1 and 2 by Karakusevic Carson Architects with Henley Halebrow in London.

(Image credit: Peter Landers)

Knox Bhavan Studio by Knox Bhavan Architects in London.

Knox Bhavan Studio by Knox Bhavan Architects in London.

(Image credit: Dennis Gilbert)

Liverpool’s Royal Court by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.

Liverpool’s Royal Court by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.

(Image credit: Timothy Soar)

Lochside House by Haysom Ward Miller Architects in the North West.

Lochside House by Haysom Ward Miller Architects in the North West.

(Image credit: Richard Fraser)

Maggie’s Oldham by rRMM in Manchester.

Maggie’s Oldham by rRMM in Manchester.

(Image credit: Alex De Rijke)

New Tate St Ives by Jamie Fobert Architects with Evans & Shalev.

New Tate St Ives by Jamie Fobert Architects with Evans & Shalev.

(Image credit: Nick Hufton)

Nucleus, The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Caithness Archive by Reiach And Hall Architects.

Nucleus, The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Caithness Archive by Reiach And Hall Architects.

(Image credit: Reiach And Hall Architects)

Old Shed New House by Tonkin Liu.

Old Shed New House by Tonkin Liu.

(Image credit: Greg Storrar)

R7 Kings Cross by Duggan Morris Architects with Weedon Architects in London.

R7 Kings Cross by Duggan Morris Architects with Weedon Architects in London.

(Image credit: Jack Hobhouse)

Royal Academy Of Music – The Angela Burgess Recital Hall and The Susie Sainsbury Theatre by Ian Ritchie Architects Limited in London.

Royal Academy Of Music – The Angela Burgess Recital Hall and The Susie Sainsbury Theatre by Ian Ritchie Architects Limited in London.

(Image credit: Adam Scott)

Royal Albert Wharf Phase 1 by Maccreanor Lavington Ltd. in London.

Royal Albert Wharf Phase 1 by Maccreanor Lavington Ltd. in London.

(Image credit: Tim Crocker)

Shaftesbury Theatre by Bennetts Associates in London.

Shaftesbury Theatre by Bennetts Associates in London.

(Image credit: Peter Cook)

Sibson Building by Penoyre & Prasad in the South East.

Sibson Building by Penoyre & Prasad in the South East.

(Image credit: Quintin Lake)

St Augustine’s Church by Roz Barr Architects in London.

St Augustine’s Church by Roz Barr Architects in London.

(Image credit: John Maclean)

St David’s Hospice, New In Patient Unit by KKE Architects

St David’s Hospice, New In Patient Unit by KKE Architects

(Image credit: Stale Eriksen)

Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery by MUMA, Cambridge.

Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery by MUMA, Cambridge.

(Image credit: Alan Williams)

Storyhouse by Bennetts Associates with Ellis Williams in the North West.

Storyhouse by Bennetts Associates with Ellis Williams in the North West.

(Image credit: Peter Cook)

The Department Store by Squire and Partners in London.

The Department Store by Squire and Partners in London.

(Image credit: James Jones)

The Leadenhall Build by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in London.

The Leadenhall Build by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in London.

(Image credit: Paul Raftery)

The Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre by Niall McLaughlin Architects in Cambridge.

The Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre by Niall McLaughlin Architects in Cambridge.

(Image credit: Keith Barnes)

University Of Birmingham Indoor Sports Centre by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.

University Of Birmingham Indoor Sports Centre by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.

(Image credit: Paul Riddle)

University Of Roehampton Library by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios LLP in London.

University Of Roehampton Library by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios LLP in London.

(Image credit: Hufton + Crow)

Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter by AL_A in London.

Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter by AL_A in London.

(Image credit: Hufton + Crow)

West Court Jesus Collge by Niall McLaughlin Architects in Cambridge.

West Court Jesus Collge by Niall McLaughlin Architects in Cambridge.

(Image credit: Peter Cook)

Weston Street by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris in London.

Weston Street by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris in London.

(Image credit: Timothy Soar)

INFORMATION

For more information visit the RIBA website

Ellie Stathaki

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).

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