PM Awards, 2009, Shortlist, Results, Architecture, Architects, Picture, News

PM Better Public Building Award 2009

Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award, UK

16 Oct 2009

Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award Winner 2009

Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College, Birmingham
Design: Nicholas Hare Architects
PM Better Public Building 2009 winner - Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College
photo from CABE
Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College

Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award Finalists 2009

2009 finalists – 24 projects

We list the buildings (ie not the infrastructure projects):

PM’s Award Finalists 2009 – Buildings

The Bridge Academy, Hackney, London
Design: BDP
Bridge Academy Hackney
image © Martine Hamilton Knight

Bristol Metropolitan College, Bristol
Design: Wilkinson Eyre Architects

photo from CABE

Creative Exchange, St Neots, Cambridgeshire
Design: 5th Studio

photograph : Tim Soar

The Deck, National Theatre, London
Design: A-EM Studio Ltd
The Deck National Theatre
photo from CABE

Dunraven School, Streatham, London
Design: SCABAL (Sall, Cullinen and Buck Architects Ltd)

photo from CABE

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry
Design: Pringle Richards Sharratt

photo from CABE

Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College, Birmingham [link at top of page]
Design: Nicholas Hare Architects

photo from CABE

The Level Centre, Matlock, Derbyshire
Design: Clash Associates Ltd

image © Martine Hamilton Knight

Jubilee Campus extension, University of Nottingham
Design: Make Architects
University of Nottingham building
photograph : Zander Olsen

Oldham Schools PFI project, Oldham and Manchester
Design: Architects Co-Partnership Ltd

photo from CABE

Wood Lane Station, London
Design: Ian Ritchie Architects

photo from CABE

Whitehead Building, Goldsmiths, University of London
Design: A-EM Studio Ltd

photo from CABE

PM’s Award Finalists 2009 – Bridges

Cathedral Green Footbridge, Derby

Clackmannanshire Bridge, Kincardine, Scotland

Infinity Bridge, Stockton-on-Tees

Lewisburn Bridge, Kielder Village, Northumberland

M8 Harthill footbridge replacement, North Lanarkshire, Scotland

PM’s Award Shortlist 2009 – Quick Synopsis by Adrian Welch:
Compared to last year’s shortlist this is not the same standard we feel. The quality of projects is different to most UK architecture awards, clearly design is not the key factor in the judging process – the press release states “The award is unique in requiring both efficient procurement and excellent design”. For the Prime Minister’s Award, in addition to high-quality design – essential for a good public building – the judges also look for efficient procurement; economic and social value; good team work between client, designer and contractor; sound financial management and whole-life value for money; and sustainability. There are of course really good projects here, but many don’t set the heather alight.

11 Jun 2009

Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award 2009

‘Architecture of the everyday’ makes strong Prime Minister’s Award shortlist

A record shortlist for this year’s Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award reveals how ‘architecture of the everyday’ – streets, schools, bridges and stations – easily ranks among the most imaginative and beautiful designs being built today.

The award is unique in requiring both efficient procurement and excellent design. The 24 projects, chosen from 125 entries from around the country, also represent the biggest ever shortlist. There were 21 projects on last year’s shortlist, and 18 the year before.

Commenting on the shortlist, the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, said:

‘I would like to congratulate all the projects shortlisted for this year’s Better Public Building Award. We are absolutely committed to good quality, sustainable public buildings and infrastructure, as we believe that buildings that work efficiently and effectively improve the lives of those working in and around them and mean better public services. These projects show how creative design can make a real difference to how buildings and places work and can deliver public buildings that the community can take pride in.’

The award is sponsored jointly by CABE, the Office of Government Commerce and, for the first time this year, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform).

CABE chair Sir John Sorrell added:

‘I think we are reaching a tipping point where a desire for good design is evident in most public building. This is not something you can measure easily. It’s a gradual shift in our procurement culture. I think most clients will no longer accept badly conceived, lowest cost solutions, even in a recession. The result is a myriad of examples of well designed buildings and spaces: an architecture of the everyday that helps people live more convenient lives in more beautiful places.’

Half the projects are transport infrastructure. At Ashford in Kent, after extensive public consultation, the radical re-engineering of a wide one-way ring road has given a once car-dominated town a distinctive new identity. Intriguing artworks, such as curved lighting columns, have been skilfully integrated into a new pedestrian-friendly environment.

In Derby, a sleek new bridge across the River Derwent evokes the city’s rich textile past. The Cathedral Green Footbridge is inspired by the movement of the hinged blades of a tailor’s shears and swings round a 20 metre-high needle-like mast. The carefully detailed new Harthill Footbridge provides a safe, weatherproof and easily accessible crossing over Scotland’s busiest motorway.

Wood Lane station in London – the first new station to be built on an existing tube line in 70 years – is an elegant two-storey steel and glass structure, with a 25 metre glass screen façade.

Seven of the shortlisted projects are education buildings. In south London, at Dunraven School, recycled sea containers were used to create a surprising, elegant and light sports hall within a tight budget. On a difficult and heavily trafficked site in deprived inner-city Birmingham, the Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College is built around Oxbridge-inspired courtyards.

At the University of Nottingham, the Jubilee Campus extension creates a strong new identity for the university with three stunning new buildings and a striking piece of public art – at 60 metres the tallest sculpture in the UK.

PM’s Award Winner 2008
Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital Brighton, Sussex
BDP

photo © David Barbour BDP
PM Awards 2008 Winner : Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital Brighton