ArcaWeb: RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist: University of Greenwich Stockwell Street Building

Martes, Setyembre 15, 2015

RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist: University of Greenwich Stockwell Street Building

In the last in the series, UK Construction Media takes a closer look at the University of Greenwich Stockwell Street Building, shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

The University of Greenwich Stockwell Street Building is located along an approach from Greenwich Town to Greenwich Park in the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Maritime Greenwich.

Designed by Irish company, Heneghan Peng Architects, the £38.9M four-storey building provides the main university library and houses the 2000 students that make up the Architecture and Landscape department. It also contains teaching facilities for the new department of creative professions and digital arts.

RIBA

The landscaped roof contains 14 interlinked teaching gardens, which cover an area the size of 12 tennis courts.

The design of the building was challenging in that it had to be both bold yet traditional, given the world heritage status of the surroundings.

RIBA said of the building: “The jury admired the simple elegance of the elevations, and the way the building broke down its scale both in plan and section, but there were reservations about the treatment of the escape stair exits onto the main street.

“One of the most successful aspects of the elevation was the view back to the corner of Stockwell Street from Hawksmoors St Alfege, where the prominent window and balcony sit elegantly on the axis of the gently curving street.

“The jury felt that this was a building of great ambition, that succeeded in most cases in manipulating the complex range of spaces and activities provided for, although some aspects of the building hadn’t been fully resolved, such as access to and use of the internal courtyards.”

The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced in October.

RIBA