RIBA Stirling Prize 2007 Architects' Journal's Top 50

Date Published:

24/06/2008

Credit: Ian Ritchie Architects, photography by Stewart Hemley

Courtyard Temporary Theatre

Stratford-upon-Avon
Ian Ritchie Architects
The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is a temporary theatre designed to enable productions to continue during the renovation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on Waterside. Erected in under a year at a cost of less than £6million, the 1000-seater RIBA award-winning venue has been praised for feeling far more substantial than its temporary status would suggest. It borrows some of the styling of the nearby Swan theatre, with its thrust stage and overlooking wrap-around galleries. It has a distinctive character of its own and will feed directly into the process of designing the new RST, which will have a rather larger £100million budget to play with. Its stop-gap status is neatly symbolized by the deliberate selection of a type of steel which rusts quickly for the exterior, but its essential qualities are anything but transient.

Scottish Museum

Edinburgh
Benson & Forsyth
This distinctive, substantial building, with something of the look of a modernist fortress about it, was controversial from the start. Prince Charles withdrew his support as patron in its earliest days, over lack of consultation. Yet it has since received prizes and plaudits aplenty, and like the Scottish Parliament building, has come to represent devolution and the forward-thinking pride of modern Scotland. The building is far more than a mere display cabinet for its fine collection of national artefacts in what is, remarkably, the first serious effort at creating a ‘Museum of Scotland.’ Benson and Forsyth designed around the exhibits, so the line between what is displayed and the building itself is blurred. Indeed, the museum’s Moray sandstone cladding has been described by Gordon Benson as “the oldest exhibit in the building.”

Credit: Richard Bryant/Arcaid

Welsh Assembly Building

Cardiff
Richard Rogers Partnership
The home of the Welsh Senedd opened at roughly the same time as Enric Miralles’ Scottish Parliament and shares a degree of similarity in organic structure and style with its northern cousin. Despite initial controversy, it has already come to be seen as an iconic symbol of devolution and modern Wales. The building, with its dramatic cantilevered wood-board roof, was designed by Richard Rogers, famous for his work on the Pompidou Centre and the European Law Courts. Rogers was keen that the building both used and promoted the use of renewable energy systems, and as such the ground is used as a natural heat source and rainwater collected via steel supporting columns washes windows and supplies toilets. The inspirational building has also taken on an unlikely significance for sci-fi aficionados: it’s the fictional home of Dr Who spin-off series Torchwood.

Wembley Stadium

Wembley, London
Foster & Partners
For much of the decade following the demolition of the iconic twin towers of the old stadium in September 2002, Wembley meant little more than a mysterious white arch, very publicly symbolising years of overspending and missed deadlines. Finally opened to the public in Summer 2007, though, the stadium has quickly replaced its predecessor in the hearts of the British public. The 133-metre tall arch, another step in Norman Foster’s evident ambition to redesign the entire London skyline, is the longest single roof structure in the world and ensures that there are no load-bearing pillars blocking views. 90,000 seats also make the new Wembley the largest football stadium in the world. Reassuringly though, there are also 2,618 toilets, meaning you’re unlikely to miss that crucial last minute penalty after a few too many overpriced lagers.

Thermae Bath Spa

Bath
Nicholas Grimshaw
There was some surprise in the architectural world when, in 1997, Nicholas Grimshaw was chosen to undertake this project, which required the substantial alteration of four listed buildings in a World Heritage Site. Previously known mainly for out-of-town projects which rarely engaged with existing buildings, this was something of a step into the unknown. The end result, though, successfully merges predominantly glazed modern stylings with referential touches, such as locally-sourced limestone and features which mimic ancient spas without straying into pastiche territory. In doing so it successfully brings full-scale public bathing back to Bath for the first time in 25 years. The open rooftop pool, supported by columns which stretch down through the building into the main pool itself, gives the final touch of integration with surroundings, allowing bathers to feel simultaneously detached from the bustle of city life and at one with the famous surrounding hills. The spa makes maximum use of the naturally occurring hot springs for which Bath is rightly famous, and the efficient use of resources is a theme throughout the building, with energy, ventilation and lighting all controlled by flexible automatic/manual systems to ensure minimal wastage.

Credit: HBG

Roland Levinsky Building

PlymouthHenning Larsen/BDP
Named in honour of Plymouth University’s former vice-Chancellor, who was a driving force behind its inception and died tragically earlier this year, the Levinsky Building is a £35 million arts and community building. It opened for students in September 2007, in time for the new academic year. As well as, appropriately enough, housing the university’s Faculty of Architecture, it also includes exhibition halls, an art gallery, a cinema, and a 300-seat theatre. With some of its facilities open to the public, and a central accessible square, it is intended to break down boundaries between the university and the general public. Its choice use of materials is reflected in its shortlisting for the 2007 European Copper in Architecture Award.

Accordia Housing

Cambridge MacCreanor Lavington
Set alongside a diverse range of traditional period properties, this ambitious eco-friendly development bucks recent trends in housing by shunning box-like claustrophobia-inducing apartment-blocks. Instead, it provides a classically British patchwork of terraces and detached homes, densely packed without appearing overly crowded. MacCreanor Lavington handled about a quarter of the project, which embraces diversity and also features contributions from Feilden Clegg Bailey and Alison Brooks. While the houses lack private gardens, residents looking for greenery will certainly not be disappointed by the 3.5 hectares of shared space, landscaped by Grant Associates. Accordia has been universally acclaimed as a forward-thinking example of best practice in addressing the challenges of modern housing, and won 'Best Housing Project of the Year' at the Mail on Sunday Homebuilder Design Awards 2004.

Credit: Denton Corker Marshall, photography by Tim Griffith

Civil Justice Centre

Manchester
Denton Corker Marshall
Law institutions present a unique challenge to the architect: how to fulfil the need for purposeful seriousness without straying into the territory of authoritarian excess? For a building that houses 47 court rooms, the largest British court building since the Royal Courts of Justice, additional logistical factors only compounded the difficulties facing Australian practice Denton Corker Marshall. While the building is certainly imposing (at 16 storeys high it towers over neighbouring buildings) it has a touch of architectural playfulness that prevents it from appearing overly threatening. The court rooms jut out of the edges of the buildings in seemingly arbitrary fashion, an allegedly practical feature (the court rooms are necessarily different sizes) which can’t help but suggest an unfinished game of Giant Jenga. Whether this has an adverse impact on its seriousness, or in fact achieves its intention of boosting civic confidence, is open to debate, but it’s certainly an eye-catching addition to the Manchester skyline.

Unicorn Theatre

Near London Bridge, London Keith Williams Architects
The modern Unicorn Theatre is the culmination of almost half a century’s work towards the dream of a national theatre for children. Founded in 1947 by Caryl Jenner, the lease on its original property expired decades ago, and a protracted stint as little more than a nomadic concept was entirely at odds with Jenner’s lofty ambitions. It took Lottery funding to finally get the project off the ground, with the steady head of Keith Williams, who only set up his own practice in 2001, at the helm. The newness of Williams’ enterprise translates into a surprising maturity, which avoids traditional pitfalls of designing a ‘kids’ space’ by employing understated glamour rather than tiresomely ‘cheerful’ primary colours. The building makes the most of its limited floor space by utilising horizontal cantilevers rather than supporting columns, and its copper-clad 340-seater elliptical auditorium creates a truly theatrical intensity that is anything but patronising.