The successful shortlist of 6 in the prestigious 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building has been announced, and includes two projects for designated buildings, Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall and the Grade II listed Giles Gilbert Scott’s University of Oxford Weston Library, generating a strong sign that conservation through designation can underpin quality outcomes in new design.
RIBA writes:
The six shortlisted buildings will now go head-to-head for architecture’s highest accolade, to be awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects on Thursday 6 October 2016. Now in its twenty-first year, the 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize is sponsored by Almacantar….
Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall has involved the conversion of an extraordinary terrace of listed industrial buildings, that were formerly theatre carpentry and scenery painting workshops. The gallery forms the whole length of the street, with the three listed Victorian buildings flanked at either end by new buildings. The ground and upper floors within the five buildings are continuous, allowing them to be used flexibly in many combinations, to accommodate both large and small exhibitions. There are three large galleries on each of the two floors, stretching in a line from one end of the building to the other.
The brief for this historic and Grade II listed Giles Gilbert Scott building was, literally and metaphorically, to open the doors of the library to the public to enable them to embrace knowledge. This was combined with the technically challenging requirements of protecting the precious and very rare documents stored within the archive and ensuring their preservation for future generations.
Read more about the awards, Newport Street Gallery and Weston Library
