Britain's 50 Best New Buildings: Winners of the 2012 RIBA Awards

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) unveiled the winners of the 2012 RIBA Awards.

RIBA Awards for architectural excellence were presented to 50 buildings in the UK and 9 buildings elsewhere in the EU.

This year's winners range from a house in the shape of a sand dune to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, from a demountable opera pavilion to the radical transformation of a Spanish bull-fighting arena. The dominant theme amongst this year's winners are major public arts buildings - ten of which have made the grade; many are the result of pre-recession arts lottery funding which has a typically long gestation period. The beautifully finished projects include Bath's Holburne Museum (Eric Parry Architects) and the Hepworth Wakefield (David Chipperfield Architects).

This year's winners reveal a trend which could be termed "austerity chic," with a strong presence of crafted and considered buildings, using carefully selected materials which emphasize texture, authenticity and environmental efficiency. The Brockholes Nature Reserve Visitor Centre in Lancashire is the perfect example of this - a wooden "floating village" designed to enhance our enjoyment of nature and with an enviable energy rating.

Thoughtful stitching-together of the existing urban fabric is another theme - with the clever reuse and reinvention of existing spaces. Impressive examples of this include London's new Exhibition Road streetscape and Central St Martin's Campus, while impressive urban projects such as Kevin McCloud's housing project, The Triangle in Swindon and the new Lyric Theatre in Belfast demonstrate how to make the best use of confined urban spaces.

The huge range of great buildings will guarantee an exciting RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist later in the year and illustrates the value of quality in architecture."

2012 RIBA Award Winners

14 St George Street and 50 New Bond Street, London W1S
Eric Parry Architects

 

BFI Master Film Store, Warwickshire
Edward Cullinan Architects

Bilbao Arena, Bilbao, Spain
Idom UK

Bogbain Mill, Maryburgh
Rural Design 

 Brentwood School Sixth Form Centre & Assembly Hall, Essex
Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture

 Brockholes Visitor Centre, Lancashire
Adam Khan Architects

 Caistor Arts & Heritage Centre, Lincolnshire
Jonathan Hendry Architects

 Centre Pompidou - Metz, Metz, France
Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastine Architects with Gumuchdjian Architects

 Dalling Road, London
Hayhurst and Co. in collaboration with Lucy Carmichael

 Dundee Council Civic Office, Dundee
Reiach and Hall Architects

 Easton Neston Estate, Northamptonshire
Ptolemy Dean Architects

 Exhibition Road, London SW7
Dixon Jones

 FCN 2009, Portelle, Italy
Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo

 Festival House, Blackpool
dRMM Architects

 Garsington Opera Pavilion, High Wycombe
Snell Associates

 Glenariffe House, Glens of Antrim
McGarry-Moon Architects

 H27D, Constance, Germany
Kraus Schoenberg Architects

 Hackney Marshes Centre, London E9
Stanton Williams

 Henrietta Barnett School, London NW11
Hopkins Architects

 Kings Grove, London SE15
Duggan Morris Architects

 Kirk Balk Community College, Barnsley
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

 Las Arenas, Barcelona, Spain
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

 London Olympic Stadium, London E20
POPULOUS

 Loughborough Design School, Loughborough
Burwell Deakins Architects

 Lyric Theatre, Belfast
O'Donnell + Tuomey

 Maggie's Gartnavel, Glasgow
OMA

 Maggie's South West Wales, Swansea
Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates with Garber & James

 McLaren Production Centre, Surrey
Foster + Partners

 National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Gareth Hoskins Architects

 New Court, London EC4N
OMA with Allies and Morrison

 North House, Bowden
Roger Stephenson Architects

 PJ Carroll's Factory, Dundalk, Ireland
Scott Tallon Walker Architects

 Peabody Avenue, Pimlico, London SW1V
Haworth Tompkins

 University of the Arts London Campus, Central Saint Martins at King's Cross. 

Phase 1: Granary Complex, London N1C
Stanton Williams Architects

 Private House, Gloucestershire
Found Associates

 Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast
Todd Architects

 Rear Extension to 109 Osborne Park, Belfast
ard (ciaran mackel) Architects

 Roseberry Park, Middlesbrough
Medical Architecture

 Royal Veterinary College Student Village, Hatfield
HawkinsBrown

 Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff
BFLS

 Saxton, Leeds
Union North

 Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
Page/Park Architects

 Solid 11, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tony Fretton Architects

 Student Accommodation, Somerville College, Oxford
Niall McLaughlin Architects

 St. Pancras Chambers, London NW1
RHWL Architects with Richard Griffiths Architects

 The St. Paul's Centre at St. Paul's Church, Hammersmith, London W6
Richard Griffiths Architects

 The Dune House, Suffolk
Jarmund Vigsnaes Architects & Mole Architects

 The Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care, Bath
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

 The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield
David Chipperfield Architects

 The Holburne Museum, Bath
Eric Parry Architects

 The Hurlingham Club, Outdoor Pool, London SW6
David Morley Architects

 The Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Stanton Williams

 The Shulman Auditorium, Oxford
Berman Guedes Stretton

 The Triangle, Swindon
Glenn Howells Architects

 Toffee Factory, Newcastle upon Tyne
xsite architecture

 Turner Contemporary, Kent
David Chipperfield Architects

 Wexford County Council Headquarters, Wexford, Ireland
Robin Lee Architecture

 White Cube, Bermondsey, London SE1
Casper Mueller Kneer Architects

 maison L, Yvelines, France
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