Stirling Prize shortlist dominated by London projects again

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ University of Warwick faculty of arts is the only project outside the capital to make the shortlist, which was picked from the institute’s 30 national award winners announced in June.

Last year, four of the six shortlisted buildings were in London, although the prize eventually went to Níall McLaughlin Architects’ library at Cambridge’s Magdalene College.

This year’s contenders include three debutants: Apparata Architects, Adam Khan Architects and Sergison Bates Architects.

The list is completed by Mæ, which narrowly missed out on last year’s prize with its Sands End Arts and Community Centre in Fulham, and Witherford Watson Mann Architects, which won the award in 2013 with its Astley Castle scheme.

Shortlist for the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize

New RIBA president Muyiwa Oki described the six finalists as ‘remarkable’, saying they offered ‘creative responses to the really complex challenges we’re facing today’.

He added: ‘Whether it’s tackling loneliness, building communities or preserving our heritage, these projects lay out bold blueprints for purposeful architecture.

‘Amidst a backdrop of housing shortages, growing inequality and economic uncertainties, this year’s shortlist demonstrates that well-designed buildings can offer genuinely inspiring solutions to our most pressing problems.’

Amy Bunszel, executive vice president of architecture, engineering and construction design solutions at Autodesk, the sponsor of the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize, said the finaists were ‘inspiring examples of architecture’s continued innovation to solve for humanity’s biggest challenges’.

She added: ‘The industry is under rising pressure to design where we live and work to withstand the impacts of climate change and growing populations.’

The winner will be announced in Manchester at the Stirling Prize ceremony on 19 October.

A closer look at the 2023 finalists

A House for Artists, Barking, by Apparata Architects
A model for affordable city living: An apartment complex in London’s Barking offers an ambitious model for shared living, with resident artists delivering free creative programmes for the local community via a street-facing exhibition space. A permanent installation by Grayson Perry in the complex’s central courtyard pays tribute to the homes of wartime heroes and workers.

Source:David Grandorge

2023 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist: A House for Artists, Barking by Apparata Architects

Central Somers Town Community Facilities and Housing, Camden, by Adam Khan Architects
Building community and tackling inequality: Playfully designed spaces are arranged around a small park in London’s Camden. Contributing to a wider regeneration plan, the development provides local residents with social housing, an after-school club and a very generous adventure playground. It also includes premises for a theatre education charity.

Source:Lewis Khan

2023 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist: Central Somers Town Community Facilities and Housing, Camden by Adam Khan Architects

Courtauld Connect – The Courtauld Institute of Art, Westminster, by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
Modernising a landmark building: Careful conservation and bold interventions rework a warren of spaces inside an 18th-century building, home to a cultural institute and the UK’s ‘smallest university’. Subtle interventions, including relevelled floors and new doors to the main galleries, have notably improved accessibility and eased visitor flow.

John Morden Centre, Blackheath, by Mæ
Elderly living without isolation: In Blackheath, a 300-year-old residential and nursing facility has been given a new lease of life. With treatment rooms, a hair salon, nail bar, events space and wellbeing facilities, the centre has been designed to encourage connection and movement among residents, supporting healthier and longer lives.

Source:Jim Stephenson

2023 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist: John Morden Centre, Blackheath by Mæ

Lavender Hill Courtyard Housing, Clapham, by Sergison Bates
Maximising difficult urban spaces: New apartments have been ingeniously inserted into a previously undesirable and highly constrained urban site. Beyond the unassuming entrance, a welcoming courtyard centres the scheme and offers communal space for residents.

Source:Johan Dehlin

2023 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist: Lavender Hill Courtyard Housing, Clapham by Sergison Bates Architects

University of Warwick – Faculty of Arts, Coventry, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Creating connections in higher education: The surrounding parkland is woven into a building that unites the arts and humanities under one roof. A feature staircase, inspired by the structure of a tree, grows through the central atrium with each branch leading to flexible spaces designed to inspire collaboration and cross-pollination of the arts.

Source:Daniel Hopkinson

2023 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist: Faculty of Arts Building, Warwick University by
Fielden Clegg Bradley