Stirling Prize shortlist reflects new austerity in architecture

The 2012 Olympic Velodrome is the favorite of the bookies to win the Stirling Prize for architecture 2011. Photography: Anthony Palmer/RIBA/PA.

An office building of the Decade of 1980 and a 1930 theatre are in the race to be named best new building of the year, as architects turn for retrofitting to save money and energy.

The Angel of construction in Islington, London, which BT vacated before the financial crash, was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize after a reform of r $ 72 million. The 1932 Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which was overhauled at a cost of r $ 60 million, was also nominated.

The Royal Institute of British Architects ' (Riba) annual prize of ￡ 20,000 was never won by a restored building, but the presence in two projects of retrofitting represents the emergence of the architecture of austerity.

New buildings commissioned before the tightening of public spending also made the list of candidates, including the comprehensive Velodrome for the 2012 Olympics designed by Hopkins architects, and one of the city Academy schools the most expensive ever built, the grace Academy of Evelyn r 38 million in Lambeth by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The Velodrome is the first great Olympic venue to be completed and is favorite to win with odds of 2/1:0 pm William Hill.

The Royal Shakespeare Company originally planned to demolish his house of 1932 listed in Stratford-upon-Avon, designed by Elisabeth Scott and replace it with a futuristic building of Dutch architect Erick van Egerat.

The plan was revised in the midst of cost concerns and local objections. Instead of RSC hired Bennetts Associates to fit a new propulsion phase in main auditorium, redraw the public areas and erect a viewing tower.

As well as save money and reduce emissions, the refurb "captured the spirits and ghosts of the theatre," said Rab Bennetts, architect.

The Angel of the building was stripped to its concrete framework reclad and as a speculative office block, beard almost 15% off the cost of a new building and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about a third, said the designer.

"Remodeling saves money and reduces the environmental impact of construction," said Simon Allford. "It also shows that we must pay more attention when we design new buildings to ensure that they are capable of being upgraded for the future that we cannot imagine uses."

This month Peter Rees, Chief Planner for the city of London, said it would be less new skyscrapers in the current economic climate and applications to refurbish existing office blocks had increased. He said that remodeling projects were often cheaper, more environmentally friendly and have provoked objections less than new buildings.

He "my prognosis is there will be fewer towers and that is good," said the magazine construction. "There are a lot of late-80s buildings [19] we shouldn't be throwing away."

Also on the Stirling shortlist is a Gaelaras, an Irish language arts and cultural centre in Derry, designed by O'Donnell and Tuomey architects. Is the first publicly funded by the facility of its kind since the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

The art gallery the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany, designed by the former Stirling Prize winner David Chipperfield, completes the line-up ".Creative redevelopment is a strong theme in the list this year, with a great Museum, a renovated theater complex and innovative retrofit an old building featured, showing how even with tight planning and building restrictions, talent and imagination can totally transform the existing structures and sites, "said Ruth Reed, President of the RIBA.

The selection of the Academy Hadid highlights a continuous line between architects and the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, who dismantled a large construction programme schools and complained that architects were "creaming off money" contracts.

Architects have reacted angrily to the allegation, saying the high cost of ￡ 55bn building schools for the future (BSF) programme was reduced to scrap contracts instead of their rates. In February, Gove has renewed his attack, telling a Conference in free schools: "we won't have Richard Rogers to design your school, we won't have any award-winning architects to create it, because nobody in this room are here to make the best architects".

In June, the Conservatives claimed architects and landscapers had received r $ 98 million in fees to build 113 schools under BSF, with the largest single fee being ￡ 2. 7 d. the Department of education said he wanted to see more standardization in design school to cut costs, triggering fresh concern, Riba.

The Stirling Prize winner will be announced on 2 October.

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Stirling Prize shortlist reflects the new austerity in architecture

The 2012 Olympic Velodrome is the bookies favorite to win the Stirling Prize for architecture 2011. Photography: Anthony Palmer/RIBA/PA

A block of 80 's Office and a 1930s theater are in the running to be named the best new building of the year, as architects turn back to save energy and money.

The Angel, Islington, London building, which BT vacated before the financial collapse, was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize after a restoration of 72 million pounds. The 1932 Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which was overhauled at a cost of 60 million pounds, has also been nominated.

The Royal Institute of British Architects ' (Riba) award of ￡ 20,000 annual ever was won by a restored, but the presence on the shortlist of two projects to replace represents the emergence of the architecture of austerity.

New buildings commissioned before the compression of public expenditure has also made the shortlist, including radical Velodrome for the 2012 Olympics designed by architects Hopkins, and one of the most expensive city Academy schools ever built, the Academy of grace Evelyn 38 million pounds at Lambeth by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The Velodrome is the first main Olympic venue to be completed and is favored to win with odds of 2/1 with William Hill.

Royal Shakespeare Company originally planned to demolish the House 1932 listed in Stratford-upon-Avon, designed by Elisabeth Scott and replace it with a futuristic building by Dutch architect Erick van Egerat.

The plan was revised in the midst of cost concerns and objections. Instead the RSC hired Bennetts Associates to enter a new phase of Boost in the main auditorium, redesign the public areas and to erect an observation tower.

As well as saving money and reducing emissions, the refurb "captured the spirits and ghosts of the theatre", said by Rab Bennetts, architect.

The building was stripped to its concrete frame and block office reclad as a speculative, shaving almost 15% off the cost of a new building and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about a third, the designer said.

"Restructuring saves money and reduces the environmental impact of construction," said Simon Allford. "Also shows that we should be paying more attention when we design new buildings to ensure they are able to be adapted for future uses that we can imagine."

This month Peter Rees, Chief Designer for the city of London, said there would be fewer new skyscrapers in the current economic climate and that had increased applications to restructure the existing office blocks. He said restructuring projects were often less expensive, more respectful and less provoked objections than new buildings.

"My prognosis is there will be fewer towers and that is nothing bad," said the magazine. "There is a lot of late-1960s buildings 80 [19] that we should not throw away."

Stirling also limited is An Irish Gaelaras, a language arts and cultural centre in Derry, designed by O'Donnell and Tuomey architects. Is the first publicly financed facility of its kind since the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

The art gallery of the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany, designed by former Stirling Prize winner David Chipperfield, completes the line-up ".Retraining creative is a strong theme in the list of this year, with an extension of the great Museum, a restored theater complex and innovative retrofit an old office building in the foreground, showing how even with narrow design and construction of constraints, talent and imagination can transform completely the existing structures and sites, "said Ruth Reed, President of the RIBA.

The selection of the Academy Hadid highlights a row going on between architects and the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, who demolished a main school building programme and complained that architects were "creaming off cash" contracts.

Architects have reacted angrily, saying the claim that the high cost of building schools for the program ￡ billion future (BSF) had fallen to wasteful contracts, rather than taxes. In February Gove renews his attack, telling a Conference on free schools: "we won't be getting Richard Rogers to design your school, we won't be getting any award-winning architects for the design, because nobody in this room is here to make architects richer".

In June the Conservatives claimed architects and landscape architects had received 98 million pounds in costs to build 113 schools under BSF, with the largest single fee is ￡ 2. 7 m. The Department for education said he wanted to see more standardization in design school to cut costs, triggering fresh concern at Riba.

On 2 October will be announced the winner of the Stirling Prize.

View the original article here