RIBA Stirling Prize 2019 shortlist celebrates the diversity of UK buildings

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The Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience Stirling prize shortlist 2019
The Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience, Moray, by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. ‘A dynamic visitor centre with an undulating grass-covered roof’ – RIBA. Read more here…
(Image credit: Joas Souza)

The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the shortlist for the annual Stirling Prize that highlights the UK’s best building of the year. The projects on the list include a house made of cork, a gin distillery and one of the UK's busiest stations – revealing the diversity of UK building practice today.

Grimshaw’s London Bridge Station was commended for its voluminous, light-filled concourse. A residential housing scheme in Norwich by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley held up for its energy efficiency. Feilden Fowles’ Yorkshire Sculpture Park visitor centre was recognized for its connection to the landscape. The Nevill Holt Opera, renovated from a 17th-century stable block by Witherford Watson Mann Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ Macallan Distillery both attracted shortlisting because of their unique offerings.

The Weston

The Weston, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, by Feilden Fowles Architects. 

(Image credit: Mike Dinsdale)

‘These six buildings could hardly be more diverse in typology and scale – from a rustic stable block-turned-theatre to a vast national railway station. But what they have in common – ground-breaking innovation, extraordinary creativity and the highest quality materials and detailing – sets them apart, rightfully earning them a chance to win the highest accolade in architecture,’ says RIBA President Ben Derbyshire.

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So what does the ‘best’ mean? In 2019, for RIBA, that means ‘ground-breaking innovation, extraordinary creativity and the highest quality materials and detailing,’yet also projects that seek to address the big issues important to the UK right now – from the housing crisis to global climate emergency.

‘From the way that Cork House experiments with entirely plant-based materials, to Goldsmith Street’s ultra-low energy affordable homes, each of these six buildings push the boundaries of architecture, exceeding what has been done before, and providing solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our times,’ says Derbyshire.

Goldsmith Street, Norwich, by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley Stirling prize shortlist 2019

Goldsmith Street, Norwich, by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley. ‘A large development of 105 highly energy-efficient homes for social rent, designed to Passivhaus standards for Norwich City Council’ – RIBA.

(Image credit: Tim Crocker)

The Weston, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, by Feilden Fowles Architects Stirling prize shortlist 2019

The Weston, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, by Feilden Fowles Architects. ‘An exquisite new gallery and visitor centre nestled into the Yorkshire landscape’ – RIBA. Read more here…

(Image credit: Mikael Olsson)

London Bridge Station, by Grimshaw

London Bridge Station, by Grimshaw. ‘A radical reconfiguration and development of one of London’s busiest stations with a new voluminous, light-filled concourse’ – RIBA.

(Image credit: Paul Raftery)

Cork House, Berkshire, by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton

Cork House, Berkshire, by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton. ‘An ingenious, experimental, carbon-neutral private house made almost entirely from cork’ – RIBA

(Image credit: press)

Nevill Holt Opera, Leicestershire, by Witherford Watson Mann Architects.

Nevill Holt Opera, Leicestershire, by Witherford Watson Mann Architects. ‘A contemporary opera theatre within a 17th-century stable block’– RIBA. Read more here…

(Image credit: Hélène Binet)

INFORMATION

Nevill Holt Opera, Leicestershire, by Witherford Watson Mann Architects. ‘A contemporary opera theatre within a 17th-century stable block’– RIBA. Photography: Hélène Binet. Read more here…

Harriet Thorpe

Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.