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2021 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist unveiled for the UK's best new building

2021-09-16T11:52:00-04:00

The shortlist has been announced for the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize, awarded each year to the UK’s best new building. Six buildings will be in contention for the award, which is now in its 25th edition. Among the projects vying for the award are a mosque in Cambridge, a bridge on the south coast of England, and a residential and office scheme in London with a distinctive limestone façade.

“The 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist demonstrates the innovation and ambition that lies at the heart of exceptional architecture,” said RIBA President Simon Allford on the shortlist’s unveiling. “As we navigate major global challenges, from a global pandemic to the climate emergency, this shortlist demonstrates the critical role that UK architects play in creating thoughtful and sustainable places and spaces.”

The overall winner of the 2021 Stirling Prize will be revealed on October 14th. Below, we have compiled the six shortlisted projects, along with an extract of the jury citation for each. ...

Oliver Wainwright's list of architectural highlights celebrates dignity and craft

2019-12-26T15:45:00-05:00

It was the year that council housing turned community-minded, King Arthur got a swishy new bridge and the Lake District harboured a gem

Oliver Wainwright, architecture and design critic at The Guardian, picked his top ten projects of the year, including a couple we have also covered on Archinect this year: the energy-efficient and 2019 Stirling Prize-winning Goldsmith Street housing project by Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley; and the spectacular new Tintagel Castle Footbridge by William Matthews and Ney & Partners.

New Tintagel Castle Footbridge: high-tech construction at ancient King Arthur site

2019-06-19T16:00:00-04:00

A spectacular footbridge that will link the Cornish mainland with the island fortress of Tintagel is beginning to take shape thanks to technology usually employed for challenging construction projects in the Swiss Alps. [...] The 70-metre-long bridge is to comprise of two cantilevers, one reaching out from the mainland to the island where according to legend King Arthur was conceived.

Image: Ney & Partners, William Matthews Associates, Hayes Davidson, Emily Whitfield-Wicks

The new Tintagel footbridge at this historically significant site in Cornwall, England was envisioned by Belgian bridge designers Ney & Partners Civil Engineers in partnership with UK architecture firm William Matthews Associates and emerged as the winning proposal from the 2015 Tintagel Castle: Bridge Design Competition.

Image: Ney & Partners, William Matthews Associates, Hayes Davidson, Emily Whitfield-Wicks

"The aim was to find a bridge specifically tailored to Tintagel Castle, harmonising with the iconic coastal landscape," explains the project description on English Heritage's website. "The design sees two cantilevers reach out and meet, not quite touching, with a 40mm gap in the middle. The gap represents the transition from the mainland to the island, present to past."

View this post on Instagram Tintagel footbridge.... it’s started!
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Bridging the gap; Tintagel Castle design contest winning design revealed

2016-03-23T13:36:00-04:00

The daring concept proposes one cantilever on the Cornish mainland and another on the island fortress, where, legend has it, King Arthur was conceived. The two structures stretch out to each other across the void but do not quite meet.

The victorious design was conceived by the Belgian company Ney & Partners Civil Engineers in partnership with British architects William Matthews Associates.