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The extensive five-year, £80 million restoration of London’s Big Ben tower has been shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious architecture award, alongside a novel fashion college campus, a cutting-edge science laboratory, and an inventive residential extension.
The refurbishment of Big Ben, formally known as the Elizabeth Tower, is among the six nominees vying for the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Stirling Prize.
The shortlist also features the London College of Fashion campus, situated on the site of the former Olympic Park in east London, and AstraZeneca’s advanced medical research center in Cambridge.
Completing the list are the pioneering Appleby Blue Almshouse retirement residence and the Japanese-inspired Niwa House, both located in south London, as well as an extension to an eccentric home in Hastings.
Last year, the esteemed award was conferred upon the Elizabeth Line, London’s east-west railway.
The Stirling Prize is awarded to the building considered “the most significant of the year for the evolution of architecture and the built environment,” judged on criteria encompassing design vision, innovation, and originality.
While typically bestowed upon newly constructed buildings, major restorations and renovations are also eligible.
Past recipients of the prize, first awarded in 1996, include Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre, Hastings Pier, and the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.
RIBA President Chris Williamson noted that the shortlisted projects “demonstrate architecture’s unique ability to address some of the most urgent challenges of our time, responding with creativity, adaptability, and care.”
Each project offers “a blueprint for how architecture can enrich society” and showcases a “hopeful vision for the future, one where architecture strengthens communities and helps shape a more sustainable and inclusive built environment,” he elaborated.
The Appleby Blue Almshouse, a social housing development in Southwark, south London, provides 57 apartments for individuals over 65. Replacing an abandoned care home, it’s designed as a contemporary adaptation of the traditional almshouse.
According to RIBA, the design aims to “foster community and reduce isolation among residents,” incorporating communal areas and shared facilities such as a kitchen and a double-height garden room. “The result is a new standard for inclusive social housing in later life.”
The Elizabeth Tower, a prominent London landmark commonly known as Big Ben (though technically the name of the bell), underwent its most extensive restoration in its 160-year history.
The works included repairs to the clock mechanism, restoration of the original Victorian blue and gold color scheme on the clock faces, and reinstatement of the St. George’s Cross flag emblems. Accessibility improvements included the addition of a new lift.
Judges described the outcome as “a veritable masterclass in conservation and craftsmanship,” albeit exceeding the initial budget estimate of £29 million to £45 million.
This late 19th-century detached hillside house in Hastings, East Sussex, received an extension featuring a series of timber-framed rooms and industrial exterior elements, including a concrete yard and a galvanized steel staircase.
“The result goes beyond a house extension, transforming the entire home and producing a lesson in restrained, inventive reuse,” the judges commented.
Previously housed in six separate buildings, the London College of Fashion consolidated its 6,000 students and staff into a new 17-story headquarters in Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford, east London, in 2023.
Judges highlighted features such as the “dramatic staircases unfurling through a shared ‘heart space’ to encourage collaboration.”
This residence, described as a “pavilion-like oasis,” was constructed on a formerly derelict plot behind a row of terraced houses in south London for a family with an affinity for Japanese design. It was also designed to be fully accessible for a wheelchair user.
“The quality of light throughout the home is breathtaking,” the judges noted. “Large full-height sliding doors and full-height glazed walls seamlessly blend indoors and out – opening spaces to gardens, courtyards and balconies. It is difficult to see where the building ends and the gardens begin.”
AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre “radically redefines the research facility,” according to RIBA, by “blending cutting-edge laboratories with welcoming public spaces.”
The striking building features a curved, three-sided shape with a high, jagged exterior glass front and roof. Inside, three glass-lined labs are connected by “clever interconnecting corridors that balance stringent security with transparency, putting science on display.”
BBC News used AI to help write the summary at the top of this article. It was edited by BBC journalists. Find out more.
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