The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Stirling Prize is presented to "the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year". The architects must be RIBA members. Until 2014 the building could have been anywhere in the European Union, but since 2015 entries have had to be in the United Kingdom. In the past, the award included a £20,000 prize, but it currently carries no prize money.
History The award was founded in 1996, and is considered to be the most prestigious architecture award in the United Kingdom. The presentation ceremony has been televised by Channel 4. Six shortlisted buildings are chosen from a long-list of buildings that have received a RIBA National Award. These awards are given to buildings showing "high architectural standards and substantial contribution to the local environment".
In addition to the RIBA Stirling Prize, five other awards are given to buildings on the long-list. In 2015 they consisted of: the RIBA National Award, the RIBA Regional Award, the Manser Medal, the Stephen Lawrence Prize and the RIBA Client of the Year Award. For years prior to 1996, the award was known as the "Building of the Year Award".
In 2000 several architects from Scotland and Wales made claims of metropolitan bias after five out of seven designs shortlisted by judges were located within London. Critics described the list as "London-centric". The chairman of the judges in the contest rejected the claims, saying that the first Stirling Prize was awarded to a building in Salford, Greater Manchester.
On 30 September 2020, RIBA announced that the awards had been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Judges selected the 2021 prize winner from the 2020 shortlist.
Laureates and runners-up As the RIBA Building of the Year Award YearLaureateWinning workNominees and works1987Jane and David DarbyshireThe Houghton Mifflin dictionary of biography, p.400St Oswald's Hospice, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne1988Evans and ShalevTruro Crown Courts, Truro, Cornwall 1989William HowlandNelson Mandela Primary School, Birmingham James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Associates for Tate in the North, Liverpool Marks and Spencer Kings Meadow Financial Services Centre, Chester 13 other regional award winners1990Colin Stansfield Smith of Hampshire County ArchitectsQueens Inclosure Middle School, Waterlooville, Hampshire Herron Associates for Imagination Headquarters, London Edward Cullinan Architects for RMC Group Headquarters, Egham, Surrey1991Peter Foggo of Arup AssociatesBroadgate, London Alsop, Lyall and Störmer for Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre, Cardiff Terry Farrell and Partners for Embankment Place, London John Young for Deck House, London Manser Associates for Sterling Hotel, Terminal 4, Heathrow Airport, London Bennetts Associates for Imperium Offices, Reading, Berkshire1992Norman FosterSackler Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, London Norman Foster for New Terminal, Stansted Airport, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex Michael Hopkins and Partners for Bracken House, London Richard Rogers Partnership for Reuters Data Centre, Blackwall, London1993Nev Churcher and Sally Daniels of Hampshire County ArchitectsWoodlea Primary School, Bordon, Hampshire Edward Cullinan Architects for Fountains Abbey Visitors Centre, Aldfield, North Yorkshire Richard Horden Associates for Queen's Stand, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom, Surrey1994Nicholas GrimshawWaterloo International railway station, London 35 other regional finalists1995Lobb PartnershipMcAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield 39 other regional finalists
As the Stirling Prize YearLaureateWinning workNominees and works 1996 Centenary Building,University of Salford, Salford (demolished in 2025) 1997 James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Associates Stuttgart Music School,Stuttgart, Germany Will Alsop for Hotel du Département des Bouches-du-Rhône, Marseille, France Mark Guard for roof-top apartment, Paris, France Richard Murphy for Maggie's Centre, Edinburgh Richard Rogers Partnership for Paul Hamlyn Learning Resource Centre, Thames Valley University, London Chris Wilkinson for Stratford Market depot, Jubilee line, London 1998 Foster + Partners Imperial War Museum,Duxford, CambridgeshireRick Mather Architects for a private house, London Ian Ritchie Architects for Crystal Palace Park Concert Platform, Crystal Palace, London Ian Taylor with Bennetts Associates for Richard Attenborough Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester Stephenson Bell for Quay Bar, Manchester (demolished in 2007) Inskip and Jenkins for Temple of Concord and Victory (restoration), Stowe, Buckinghamshire Günter Behnisch for St Benno School, Dresden, Germany Günter Behnisch for Landesgirokasse, Stuttgart, Germany David Chipperfield for an office and studio building, Düsseldorf, Germany Norman Foster and Partners for Commerzbank HQ, Frankfurt, Germany Colin St John Wilson for British Library, London 1999 Future Systems Lord's Media Centre,LondonDavid Chipperfield Architects for River and Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Benson & Forsyth for Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Alsop, Lyall & Störmer for North Greenwich tube station, London Chris Wilkinson Architects for Jubilee Line Extension Project, London Wilford Associates for Sto AG Marketing and Training Building, Stühlingen, Germany Foster + Partners for Reichstag, Berlin, Germany O'Donnell & Tuomey for Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School, Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland 2000 Alsop & Störmer Peckham Library,LondonCaruso St John for New Art Gallery Walsall, West Midlands Norman Foster and Foster + Partners for Canary Wharf tube station, London Marks Barfield for London Eye, London Richard Rogers Partnership for 88 Wood Street, City of London Sauerbruch Hutton for GSW Headquarters, Berlin, Germany Chetwood Associates for Sainsbury's Supermarket, Greenwich, London 2001 Wilkinson Eyre Architects Magna Centre,Rotherham, South YorkshireNicholas Grimshaw and Partners, Anthony Hunt for Eden Project, Cornwall Eldridge Smerin for The Lawns, Highgate, London Jeremy Dixon Edward Jones for National Portrait Gallery extension, London Guy Greenfield Architects for The Surgery, Hammersmith, London Michael Hopkins & Partners for Portcullis House and Westminster tube station, London Michael Wilford & Partners for British Embassy in Berlin, Germany 2002 Wilkinson Eyre Architects & Gifford Gateshead Millennium Bridge, GatesheadMalcolm Fraser Architects for Dance Base, Grassmarket, Edinburgh Edward Cullinan Architects for Weald and Downland Gridshell, Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, West Sussex David Chipperfield Architects for Ernsting's Service Centre, Coesfeld-Lette, Germany Building Design Partnership for Hampden Gurney Church of England Primary School, London Richard Rogers Partnership for Lloyd's Register of Shipping, London Benson & Forsyth for Millennium Wing, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland 2003 Herzog & de Meuron Laban,Deptford, LondonBill Dunster Architects for BedZED, Hackbridge, London Eric Parry Architects for 30 Finsbury Square, London Foster + Partners for Great Court, British Museum, London Ian Ritchie Architects for Plymouth Theatre Royal Production Centre, Plymouth Sutherland Hussey Architects with Jake Harvey, Donald Urquhart, Glen Onwin and Sandra Kennedy for Tiree Shelter, Inner Hebrides, Scotland 2004 Foster + Partners 30 St Mary Axe,LondonStudio Daniel Libeskind for Imperial War Museum North, Trafford Park, Greater Manchester MacCormac Jamieson Prichard with Rummey Design for The Phoenix Initiative, Coventry Foster + Partners for Business Academy, Bexley, London Ian Ritchie Architects for Spire of Dublin, Ireland Peter Cook, Colin Fournier for Kunsthaus, Graz, Austria 2005 EMBT & RMJM Scottish Parliament building,EdinburghBennetts Associates for Jubilee Library, Brighton Zaha Hadid for BMW Central Building, Leipzig, Germany Foster + Partners for McLaren Technology Centre, Woking O'Donnell & Tuomey for Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland Alsop Designs for Fawood Children's Centre, Harlesden, London 2006 Richard Rogers Partnership Barajas Airport Terminal 4,Madrid, Spain Adjaye Associates for Whitechapel Idea Store, London Hopkins Architects for Evelina Children's Hospital, London Caruso St John Architects for Brick House, London Richard Rogers Partnership for Senedd (Welsh Assembly building), Cardiff Zaha Hadid for Phaeno Science Centre, Wolfsburg, Germany 2007 David Chipperfield Architects Museum of Modern Literature,Marbach, Germany David Chipperfield Architects for America's Cup Building, Valencia, Spain Office for Metropolitan Architecture/Arup-AFA for Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal Foster + Partners for Dresden Station Redevelopment, Dresden, Germany Glenn Howells Architects, for Savill Building Visitors' Centre, Windsor Great Park, Windsor Haworth Tompkins for Young Vic Theatre, London 2008 Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios,Alison Brooks Architects and Maccreanor Lavington Accordia housing development,Cambridge Grimshaw/Arcadis for Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station, Amsterdam, Netherlands Denton Corker Marshall for Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Manchester Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher for Nord Park Railway, Innsbruck, Austria Allies and Morrison for Royal Festival Hall, London Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for Westminster Academy, London 2009 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Maggie's Centre,London Tony Fretton Architects for Fuglsang Kunstmuseum, Lolland, Denmark Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for Bodegas Protos winery, Peñafiel, Spain BDP for Liverpool One Masterplan, Liverpool Eric Parry Architects for 5 Aldermanbury Square, London Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for Kentish Town Health Centre, London 2010 Zaha Hadid MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts,Rome, Italy David Chipperfield for Neues Museum, Berlin DSDHA for Christ's College, Guildford Rick Mather Architects for Ashmolean Museum, Oxford dRMM for Clapham Manor Primary School, London Theis and Khan for Bateman's Row, Shoreditch, London 2011 Zaha Hadid Evelyn Grace Academy,London O'Donnell & Tuomey for An Gaeláras, Derry, Northern Ireland Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for The Angel Building, London David Chipperfield Architects for Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany Bennetts Associates for Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Hopkins Architects for The Velodrome, London 2012 Stanton Williams Sainsbury Laboratory,Cambridge David Chipperfield Architects for The Hepworth, Wakefield O'Donnell & Tuomey for Lyric Theatre, Belfast OMA for Maggie's Centre, Glasgow OMA with Allies and Morrison for New Court, London Populous for Olympic Stadium, London 2013 Witherford Watson Mann Astley Castle,Nuneaton, Warwickshire Grafton Architects for the medical school at University of Limerick, Ireland Hawkins\Brown with Studio Egret West for Park Hill, Sheffield Alison Brooks Architects for Newhall Be, Essex heneghan peng architects for Giant's Causeway Visitors' Centre, County Antrim, Northern Ireland Niall McLaughlin Architects for Bishop Edward King Chapel, Ripon College Cuddesdon, South Oxfordshire 2014 Haworth Tompkins Everyman Theatre,Liverpool Mecanoo for Library of Birmingham, Birmingham Zaha Hadid for London Aquatics Centre, London Renzo Piano for The Shard, London O'Donnell & Tuomey for Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at LSE, London Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios for Manchester School of Art, Manchester 2015Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Burntwood School,Wandsworth, London Niall McLaughlin Architects for Darbishire Place, Whitechapel, London Reiach and Hall Architects for Maggie's Centre Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Scotland Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for NEO Bankside, Bankside, London