Mikhail Riches Architects, which won the RIBA Stirling Prize five years ago, has been named among the six finalists for the 2024 award
Having scooped the UK’s highest accolade in architecture in 2019 with its Goldsmith Street council housing, Norwich, the practice is back in the running for the prestigious prize – this time for its work on the second phase of the ongoing revamp of the Brutalist Park Hill estate in Sheffield.
The firm is joined by Stirling Prize shortlist debutants Al-Jawad Pike and Clementine Blakemore Architects – nominated respectively for an 11-home social housing project in Hackney, East London, and the conversion of a Dorset dairy farm into a rural retreat.
Jamie Fobert Architects is again among the prize contenders, having been named as one of the 2018 finalists for its Tate St Ives extension. This year, working with Purcell, it has been nominated for its National Portrait Gallery refurbishment.
The list is completed by two London megaprojects. The two decades-long King’s Cross Masterplan, by Allies and Morrison and Porphyrios Associates and The Elizabeth Line, London Underground, by Atkins, Maynard, Equation and Grimshaw. Thirty years ago Grimshaw won the predecessor to the Stirling Prize – the 1994 RIBA Building of the Year Award – for its Waterloo International railway station.
The contenders for the 2024 prize were chosen from the 26 recipients of the institute's National Awards announced earlier this month .
RIBA president Muyiwa Oki said the finalists demonstrated ‘the ingenuity and diversity of architecture today’. He explained: ‘From major national infrastructure to brave and brilliant council-led housing, these varied schemes are united in making sensitive contributions to elevating everyday life.
‘Whether raising the bar for social housing, upgrading city transportation or repurposing dilapidated buildings to create heritage-conscious urban and rural developments, each scheme thoughtfully adapts elements of our existing built environment.’
Oki added that ‘at a time when the need to preserve our planet’s resources is greater than ever’ the shortlisted projects had placed ‘regeneration and restoration front and centre, transforming well and lesser-known landmarks to create highly sustainable places for future generations’.
He concluded: ‘This is purposeful yet unassuming architecture – architecture that brings joy to people’s lives and strengthens the fabric of our society.’
The winner of the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced live at London’s Roundhouse on 16 October 2024.
Chowdry Walk, London by Al-Jawad Pike
An exemplary blueprint for social housing: Built on a plot previously occupied by garages and ad-hoc parking, these 11 homes – of which seven are social rented – herald the development of a new generation of ambitious council housing in Hackney, east London. A sculptural form gives a strong, confident presence to the staggered two-storey terrace that weaves along a newly created public thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists. Clever sequencing creates a meaningful route through the development and provides privacy from overlooking neighbours, while also supporting passive solar gain.
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024 finalist: Chowdry Walk, London by Al-Jawad Pike
The Elizabeth Line, London Underground by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation and Atkins
A transport tour de force: A mammoth feat of construction and collaboration, The Elizabeth Line creates a familiar yet significantly improved experience for the 200 million passengers it is expected to carry each year. A slick line-wide identity manifests at platform level though the application of consistent cladding, lighting and signage, creating a decluttered and accessible environment. The result is a major infrastructure project that sets a new standard for inner-city transport. Others to have worked on the line's ten central London stations were John McAslan + Partners, Weston Williamson + Partners, Hawkins\Brown, AHR, Wikinson Eyre, BDP, Adamson Associates Architects, Allies and Morrison, and Fereday Pollard.
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024 finalist: The Elizabeth Line, London Underground by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation and Atkins
King’s Cross Masterplan, London by Allies and Morrison and Porphyrios Associates
A successful piece of city-making: twenty years in the making, the redevelopment of King’s Cross is the result of remarkable reintegration and regeneration of this former industrial wasteland in the heart of London. New streets, squares, offices, schools, university facilities and accommodation sit alongside thoughtfully restored historic structures, transforming the area into a thriving hub of activity. Further celebrating the site’s industrial legacy, the architects have reopened the Regent’s Canal to the public and created an ‘urban beach’ – a vibrant, valuable addition to London’s public realm and another clever thread in stitching a previously cut-off part of the city back into the wider urban fabric.
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024 finalist: King’s Cross Masterplan, London by Allies and Morrison and Porphyrios Associates
National Portrait Gallery, London by Jamie Fobert Architects and Purcell
Reimagining a historic cultural institution: A seamless blend of contemporary design and conservation of historical elements reinvigorate this Grade I*-listed cultural institution. Visitor experience is enhanced by a welcoming new entrance of bronze doors featuring hand-drawn portraits by Tracey Emin, along with a light-filled learning centre and accessible public space carved from former offices. The entrance reorientates the gallery towards the bustling West End, on which its back was previously turned, while crucial accessibility alterations have opened the building to all, including an entrance ramp and wider doorways. Careful interventions, such as using original windows to form new doorways, exemplify a harmony between heritage and adaptability.
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024 finalist: National Portrait Gallery by Jamie Fobert Architects
Park Hill Phase 2, Sheffield, by Mikhail Riches Architects
Revitalising a Brutalist landmark: The second phase of an ongoing regeneration of Europe’s largest listed structure, which sits on a prominent hillside overlooking Sheffield City Centre. Internal spaces are modernised through open plan designs and the addition of balconies, while thermal imaging has allowed sustainability experts to identify and improve energy efficiency. A fresh colour palette referencing the nearby Peak District blends with the estate’s original concrete, preserves its design heritage, while tree and wildflower plantings cleverly soften the exterior.
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024 finalist: Park Hill Phase 2, Sheffield by Mikhail Riches Architects
Wraxall Yard, Dorset, by Clementine Blakemore Architects
An inclusive and accessible rural retreat: A dilapidated Dorset dairy farm has been sensitively repaired and converted into highly accessible holiday accommodation, with public spaces aimed at boosting engagement with wildlife and farming. Motivated by frustration at the standard of available wheelchair accessible accommodation across the UK, the development offers extensive yet discreet accessible features, providing disabled guests – particularly wheelchair users – with a high degree of independence. Clever landscaping removes the need for ramps and obvious handrails. At the same time, a mix of polished concrete floors and exposed doorframes reduced drag and mitigate bumps for wheelchairs, widening access to this previously inaccessible site.
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024 finalist: Wraxall Yard, Dorset by Clementine Blakemore Architects
