AJ100 Building of the Year Awards, 2012, Results, Categories, Shortlist News

AJ100 Building of the Year Award

Winners : UK Architecture Prize, London

17 May 2012

Stanton Williams’ Central Saint Martin’s College in King’s Cross awarded “Building of the Year” prize at this year’s AJ 100

AJ100 Building of the Year Awards 2012

Stanton Williams’ New University of the Arts London Campus for Central Saint Martin’s at King’s Cross was last night awarded the “Building of the Year” prize at the annual AJ 100 Awards in London.

AJ 100 practices were invited to nominate a single project completed in 2010 for the award, and the project to re-house London’s Central St Martin’s school of art and design faced stiff competition in the category from a shortlist of eight prestigious projects.

King’s Cross – Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design building, UK
2007-11

photo © Hufton+Crow
Kings Cross Central : Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design building

Stanton Williams master planned and designed the new 32,000 m² campus, accommodating 5,000 students. The design combines the 19th century Grade II listed Granary building and transit sheds – with a 200 metre long new building that uses industrial materials and creates robust spaces for the students, full of natural light. An internal street draws daylight in and acts as a central circulation spine with suspended walkways, cafes, film, graphic and light projections.

The judging panel for the Building of the Year award included Dan Labbad (Lend Lease), Scott Laurie (formerly RMJM), Christine Murray (The Architects’ Journal), Simon Silver (Derwent London plc) and Martin Young (Tesco Stores Ltd).

This year’s Top 10 practices in the AJ100 comprise many familiar names and one or two new entrants, including (with last year’s ranking):

1. Foster + Partners (2)
2. BDP (1)
3. Capita Symonds Ltd (4)
4. Atkins (3)
5. Aedas Architects (5)
6. Allies and Morrison (10)
7. Sheppard Robson (12)
8. PRP (6)
9. Zaha Hadid Architects (N/A)
10. RMJM (11)

Other highlights of last night’s awards included the Olympic Delivery Authority being named as the Client of the Year, while Sir David Chipperfield won the Contribution to the Profession award.

John Thompson & Partners won the Employer of the Year award while Hawkins/Brown were highly commended. Eric Parry Architects won the Fastest Growing Practice award with ORMS and Paul Davis + Partners both being highly commended.

The International Practice of the Year was awarded to Aukett Fitzroy Robinson while Paul Davis + Partners were awarded Practice of the Year with Eric Parry Architects highly commended.

Zara Hadid won the New Member of the Year award and Paul Davis + Partners won the Sustainable Practice of the Year award with Scott Brownrigg highly commended.

The Value Excellence award was presented to John McAslan + Partners while John Robertson Architects were highly commended.

Undertaken by the Architects’ Journal in collaboration with Imperial College London, the annual AJ 100 survey provides a vivid insight into the performance and success of the architectural sector, and its value to the UK economy. The survey is completed by the vast majority of UK practices, who in addition to providing statistics on the number of qualified architects employed also submit information on their commercial performance.

The AJ100 Awards took place on Wednesday 16th May at the Grange Hotel St Paul’s London, and were organised by The Architects’ Journal magazine, published by Emap. Supporters and sponsors include Bespoke, BST Global, Griffiths & Armour, HP, Miele, Mott MacDonald, Staron Radianz and Schüco. FTI Consulting is the Official Communication Partners to the AJ100.

Stanton Williams

AJ 100 rankings – external link

Previously:

19 May 2011

AJ100 Building of the Year Awards – 2011

Hopkins scoops both Building of the Year and Contribution to the Profession awards at the AJ 100

Last night, Hopkins Architects celebrated a hat trick of award wins at the annual AJ 100 member’s dinner and awards ceremony.

Sir Michael Hopkins, one of the founding partners of the practice, received the prestigious peer award Contribution to the Profession, voted for by architects entered into the AJ100, while the practice’s London 2012 Olympic Velodrome scooped the Building of the Year award from among a shortlist of eight very impressive projects. This is the second year in a row that Hopkins has claimed the Building of the Year prize.

Hopkins Architects also received a commendation in the Most Sustainable Practice award category, adding a third prize on the evening for the practice, which has climbed two places to 39 from last year in the AJ100 ranking.

Sir Michael Hopkins:

photo © Elke Meitzel

Building of the Year, the Olympic Velodrome, is one of the four permanent venues on the Olympic Park and designed for the indoor track cycling events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The facility was unilaterally agreed upon by judges for the prize due to its “near perfect synthesis of form and function”, as described by jury member Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects.

Olympic Velodrome:

photos from fd

The jury, which also comprised Frank Duffy (DEGW) and Christine Murray (AJ editor), were particularly impressed by the beauty of the cedar cladding, the ingenious lightweight double cable-net roof, the dominance of natural light and the Velodrome’s beauty in section.

Last year, Hopkins’ Kroon Hall at Yale University received the Building of the Year award.

Meanwhile, this year’s Contribution to the Profession winner Sir Michael Hopkins CBE received the popular vote from among his peers for his significant contribution to UK architecture since he founded the Hopkins practice in 1976. During his career, he has been awarded a CBE and Knighted for Services to Architecture, and also won the RIBA Gold Medal for Architecture in 1994 (with partner Patricia Hopkins).

The Hopkins practice has been at the centre of British architecture since the practice was established, and has a track record for delivering acclaimed, award-winning buildings of the highest architectural standards.

Paul Finch, Editorial Director, The Architects’ Journal, said:

“Our sincere congratulations to Hopkins Architects, not only for Michael’s much deserved Contribution to the Profession award but also for the impressive achievement of securing the Building of the Year award for the second year on the run. This year’s AJ100 awards is also most definitely Hopkins’ night, and I trust that their friends, peers and colleagues will come together to warmly congratulate them.”

Undertaken by the Architects’ Journal, in collaboration with Imperial College London, the annual AJ 100 survey provides a vivid insight into the performance and success of the architectural sector and its value to the UK economy. The survey is completed by the vast majority of UK practices, who in addition to providing statistics on the number of qualified architects employed also submit information on their commercial performance.

The AJ100 Awards took place on Wednesday 18th May at the Grange Hotel St Paul’s London, and were organised by The Architects’ Journal magazine, published by Emap. Supporters and sponsors include Hilson Moran, Bespoke, BST Global, Kalzip, Saint-Gobain, Samsung, with category sponsors Schüco and Griffiths & Armour. FD is the Official Communication Partners to the AJ100.

London 2012 Olympic Velodrome

Michael Hopkins of Hopkins Architects

AJ100 Building of the Year Awards : information for previous years

Location: London, UK