The winner of a prestigious competition to find the best of new British architecture is being announced today. From the Scotsman
The six contenders for the £20,000 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize include the central London tower known as the “Gherkin” and Dublin's Spire monument.

The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, the bulbous Kunsthaus arts centre in Graz, Austria, a specialist school in the London suburb of Bexley and a project redeveloping the centre of Coventry make up the rest of the shortlist.

Lord Foster's Gherkin, officially called 30 St Mary Axe, is the favourite to scoop the glitzy prize for buildings in Britain or by a British architect anywhere in the European Union.

Bookmakers' William Hill has given it odds of 5-2, and the architect's partnership was also responsible for Bexley Business Academy, which is at 5-1.

The prize, in association with the Architects' Journal, is for the building which has made the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year.

It has been judged by a five-strong panel which includes sculptor Anthony Gormley.

Previous winners include the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

For the first time in the prize's nine-year history the result is being being broadcast live on Channel 4.

It is named after the architect Sir James Stirling, who died in 1992.

The full shortlist is:

Kunsthaus, Graz, Austria – Peter Cook, Colin Fournier

The Spire, Dublin – Ian Ritchie Architects

Imperial War Museum North, Manchester – Studio Daniel Libeskind

Phoenix Initiative, Coventry – MacCormac Jamieson Prichard

30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 – Foster and Partners

Business Academy Bexley – Foster and Partners