Two housing projects have been included on the shortlist for the 2022 Riba Stirling Prize for the UK’s best designed new building.
Orchard Gardens, a 228-home scheme which forms part of the £2.5bn regeneration of the Elephant & Castle estate in south London, and an 11-storey housing block alongside a new school in Hackney, have both been shortlisted for the prestigious architecture prize, the Riba has revealed.
The judges described Lendlease and Southwark Council’s Orchard Gardens scheme, designed by Panter Hudspith Architecture, as “a playful cluster of buildings forming a new city block of 228 new homes and retail spaces wrapped around a communal garden”. They added it is a “a major element” of the regeneration programme”.
Among the shortlisted entries was also Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road, a scheme designed by architect Henley Halebrown consisting of a new school with an 11-storey block consisting of 68 apartments, developed by Downham Road, a joint venture consisting of developer Thornsett, the Benyon Estate and the Department for Education.
Judges described the scheme as a “a striking red-brick complex that uniquely combines affordable housing with a new primary school for the growing east London community”
The news came as Riba announced the finalists of the 2022 Neave Brown Award for affordable housing in the UK.
The final three comprised Henley Halebrown’s 333 Kingsland Road scheme, plus projects from Peter Barber Architects and John Pardey Architects.
Riba president Simon Allford said the “innovative and purposeful” shortlisted schemes set a benchmark for better UK housing.
Peter Barber Architects’ entry slots 15 homes into small sites around Camden’s Kiln Place housing estate, such as under-used parking lots, plant rooms and bin stores.
Riba said the scheme “successfully illustrates how local authorities can provide new high-density public housing that is sensitive and does not require the demolition of existing homes”.
The buildings feature chamfered corners and were praised for containing “intricate” spaces to deal with the site constraints and for their “subtle humansing effect” on the modernist post-war estate.
It is the second consecutive time the practice has been nominated for the award, after winning last year’s prize for its 26-home townhouse scheme at McGrath Road in Stratford.
John Pardey Architects’ Lovedon Fields comprises 50 homes on a rural site on the edge of Winchester surrounded by allotments, bike trails, footpaths and meadows.
It is centred around a triangular village green and was praised by RIBA for its “good balance of order and informality, in contrast to some other developments nearby.”
Riba added that the individual homes are “simple and unfussy without being stark”, and welcomed the practice’s objective of achieving a step change in the design quality that is expected of rural housing schemes.
The full Riba 2022 Stirling Prize shortlist
100 Liverpool Street by Hopkins Architects (London)
“A net zero development encompassing a dramatic renovation and extension of a 1980s office block to create a suite of offices and commercial and public spaces in the heart of London’s financial district”
Forth Valley College – Falkirk Campus by Reiach and Hall Architects (Scotland)
“A set of three cutting-edge higher-education facilities connected by courtyards and open learning spaces”
Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown (London)
“A striking red-brick complex that uniquely combines affordable housing with a new primary school for the growing east London community”
Orchard Gardens, Elephant Park by Panter Hudspith Architects (London)
“A playful cluster of buildings forming a new city block of 228 new homes and retail spaces wrapped around a communal garden – a major element of Elephant and Castle’s regeneration programme”
Sands End Arts and Community Centre by Mæ Architects (London)
”A welcoming, fully accessible single-storey building arranged around a disused lodge comprising flexible activity spaces and a community café”
The New Library, Magdalene College by Niall McLaughlin Architects (Cambridge)
“An exquisitely detailed timber-framed library and study space, designed to replace that previously gifted by Samuel Pepys and projected to survive for another 400 years”
