The 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize — the annual honor of the UK's best new architecture — has been conferred to the London Underground system's new Elizabeth Line designs from Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation, and AtkinsRéalis.
The official jury citation mentions ten separate Underground stations and their "platform architecture, passenger tunnels, escalators, station concourses, signage, furniture, fittings, finishes and supporting technology" as the fundaments of the "intuitive, frictionless experience" offered by it to the capital's transit users.
The new Crossrail, which was renamed to honor the late Queen Elizabeth II, was inaugurated in May of 2022 after a massive $25 billion infrastructure investment and covers a large swath of Central London while connecting to the Great Western Main Line and Great Eastern Main Line of the National Rail.
Its originally scheduled 2018 completion had been delayed substantially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The line now spans some 62 miles of track with another 26 miles of tunnels, accommodating up to 700,000 passengers every weekday on the east-west corridor that connects nodes as far afield as Reading, Heathrow Airport, Essex, and Abbey Wood in South East London.
Labeled as a new "exemplar of inclusive design," the Line includes many step-free pedestrian access points combined with hidden acoustic mats, a calming color palette, coherent wayfinding, and sensitive lighting to make it markedly easier to use than other segments in the diffuse 160-year-old transit network.
Speaking on behalf of all the Elizabeth Line's architects, Grimshaw partner Neill McClements said its win highlights "the role design plays in elevating our every day." He added: "It is also a recognition of the challenges that our profession faces today — the responsibility we have to rapidly respond to the climate emergency, decarbonise our cities and prioritise social and economic equity."
RIBA's President Muyiwa Oki joined his jury colleagues in saying it "rewrites the rules of accessible public transport, and sets a bold new standard for civic infrastructure."
The multi-firm Elizabeth Line win follows Mæ's John Morden Centre senior care facility in London and beat out five other candidates on the six-project shortlist that was announced in late July.
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