Judges laud Town House as 鈥榩rogressive new model鈥� for higher education buildings
Grafton Architects has won the 2021 Stirling Prize for its Town House building designed for Kingston University, which brings together a library, event space, dance studios and music rooms.
Judges said the 91,000sq m building was a 鈥減rogressive new model for the design of higher education buildings鈥� and captured the spirit of learning and the value of community cohesion 鈥渆xpertly鈥�.
RIBA said Town House extended the public realm of its south-west London location and blurred the boundary between the university and the street. A 200m long six-storey colonnade offers shadow and shelter, while terraces and gardens above create shelves of connected public space.
Inside the building, the public forum leads to an amphitheatre. From the ground floor, eyes are drawn up through voids and staircases to complementing social and study spaces. RIBA said exemplary acoustic design enabled the bustling public forum, quiet library, archive, dance studio and theatre to co-exist and enrich the experience of the users.
Dublin-based Grafton 鈥� founded by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara in 1978 鈥� was awarded the . Today鈥檚 decision adds the UK鈥檚 most prestigious architecture prize to the practice鈥檚 trophy cabinet.
Grafton鈥檚 Kingston University Town House beat a including Groupwork鈥檚 15 Clerkenwell Close, Marks Barfield鈥檚 Cambridge Central Mosque, and Carmody Groarke鈥檚 Windermere Jetty Museum to snare the 25th Stirling Prize.
Earlier this week bookmaker , with odds of 7:4. Town House was in joint fourth place out of a field of six with odds of 5:1.
Education must be our future 鈥� and this must be the future of education
Norman Foster
Jury chair Norman Foster, a three-times winner of the Stirling Prize, said the panel believed Grafton鈥檚 creation for Kingston University offered new pointers for the future of higher education architecture.
鈥淜ingston University Town House is a theatre for life 鈥� a warehouse of ideas,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t seamlessly brings together student and town communities, creating a progressive new model for higher education, well deserving of international acclaim and attention.
鈥淚n this highly original work of architecture, quiet reading, loud performance, research and learning, can delightfully co-exist. That is no mean feat. Education must be our future 鈥� and this must be the future of education.鈥�
Grafton Architects said it had been given an educational vision by Kingston University that had been translated into a 鈥渟patial open matrix鈥�.
鈥淲e imagined a place where students would feel at home,鈥� the practice said. 鈥淭his building is about people, interaction, light, possibilities. It is about connecting to the community, the passer-by, an invitation to cross the threshold; a three-dimensional framework with layers of silence and layers of sound.
鈥淪pace, volume and light are the organisers. The building edges are not boundaries but active gathering spaces, terraces, galleries. Being outside under the big sky is always just a few steps away.鈥�
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University vice-chancellor Steven Spier said Town House was a 鈥渂reathtaking new building鈥� and the Stirling Prize award confirmed its world-class status.
鈥淚t is invigorating to witness the creativity, collaboration and shared learning this open, inviting space fosters,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur students have embraced Town House, relishing the opportunity to find their place within it and make its many spaces their own.鈥�
Cambridge Mosque Trust is client of the year
Its project may not have won the Stirling Prize, but Cambridge Mosque Trust has been named RIBA Client of the Year 2021.
Award judges said the mosque鈥檚 work with Marks Barfield 鈥� which was commissioned in 2009 鈥� had resulted in a 鈥渂reathtaking, highly sustainable place of worship鈥� for the local Muslim community.
The mosque has been recognised by numerous 2021 RIBA Awards, including four RIBA East Awards, a RIBA National Award.
Chair of the client-of-the-year jury Jo Bacon, who is managing partner at Allies & Morrison, said the trust was a 鈥渨orthy winner鈥�.
She said: 鈥淐ambridge Mosque Trust, spearheaded by Dr Timothy Winter, Shaykh Zayed, lecturer in Islamic studies, and director of studies at Wolfson College, demonstrated personal commitment and tenacity to deliver a highly sustainable work of contemporary architecture, which is culturally embedded in the history of those who use the building but also appropriate and generous to the civic life of the city.鈥�
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