On July 19th RIBA revealed the shortlist for the 2018 Stirling Prize. Six buildings are in the running to receive the award as well as the honour of being named the UK’s best new building for the year. As some of the leading architects London has, we want to take a look at the projects that could win the prize.

University buildings

One of the incredible things about the shortlist is three of the buildings on it were built with backing from universities. This shows that the education sector is working hard to ensure they have fantastic architecture that also provides a lot of value. Students as well as local communities will always love a university that make a positive contribution to their area and lives.

The three buildings are:

Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery by MUMA
Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre by Niall McLaughlin Architects
Chadwick Hall at the University of Roehampton by Henley Halebrown

The other three projects are diverse including an office building, an art gallery, and surprisingly, a cemetery. They are:

Bloomberg by Foster + Partners
New Tate St Ives by Jamie Fobert Architects
Bushey Cemetery by Waugh Thisleton Architects

A strong field

This is a very strong field of practices and features some truly astonishing designs. Only one of the companies has won the Stirling Prize before; Foster + Partners won in 2007 thanks to Dresden Station. Two other companies, Niall McLaughlin and MUMA, are returning finalists.

Impressively the other three practices have made it to this stage for the very first time. This is a wonderful accolade in itself and also shows how strong their designs are.

Big names missing

It is also a surprise that a number of big names are not on the shortlist. Last year’s winning practice dRMM is missing, even with their stunning Maggie’s Oldham. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, AL_L, and Reiach and Hall also miss out.

An awards ceremony will take place at the Roundhouse, Camden on 10th October to reveal the winner. If you would like to find out more about each of the projects there is a great article on the Architect Journal with details of why the judges chose them.

Coffey Architects is one of the top teams to work with if you want to design architecture that will benefit an area. We are proud to be among the best architects London based clients can choose to call on to discuss ideas with and oversee projects. Get in touch today.