RIBA announces the UK’s best buildings for 2018
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.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the RIBA website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
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).
-
Remembering Richard Serra (1938-2024), American art’s man of steel
American artist Richard Serra, whose vast sculptures transformed landscapes around the world, has died aged 85
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Architectural gardens around the world to soothe the soul
From small domestic gardens, to nature reserves, urban interventions and local parks, here are some of the finest green projects that place nature at their heart
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Corfu hotel Domes Miramare redefines beachfront bliss
Make like Jackie O at Corfu hotel Domes Miramare, a property with contemporary luxury and echoes of 1960s glamour in spades
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Ash Tree House offers a contextual approach to a north London site
Ash Tree House by Edgley Design is a modern family home in a north London conservation area's backyard site
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
In memoriam: John Miller (1930-2024)
We remember John Miller, an accomplished British architect and educator who advocated a quiet but rigorous modernism
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
River Wing at Clare College responds to its historic Cambridge heritage
University of Cambridge opens its new River Wing on Clare College Old Court, uniting modern technology with historic design
By Clare Dowdy Published
-
Camden Workshop offers flexible family space in a transformed north London warehouse
Camden Workshop, a transformed industrial space in north London, was designed by architects McLaren Excell to combine residential space and a creative studio for its owners
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Haydon shows off its dramatic stepped volume and triplex penthouse
The Haydon, designed by architects Acme, reveals the triplex penthouse within its dramatic, stepped volume in London’s Aldgate
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This Oxfordshire house is a modern retreat designed to frame views of nature
An Oxfordshire house by Richard Parr Associates draws on its content to craft contemporary countryside living for its users
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Riken Yamamoto wins 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Riken Yamamoto has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
‘London Estates’ surveys the architecture and influence of the capital’s council-built homes
‘London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981’, a new book by FUEL, is the perfect place to start for inspiration on how architecture can improve every sector of society
By Jonathan Bell Published