This year's Stirling Prize longlist includes two significant projects, accomplishments of generational significance whose influence will last a lifetime, and, recurring from previous years, a more varied selection of hard-to-compare designs, large and small, public and private. The two largest are the master plan for the 67-acre, 23-year renovation of London's King's Cross and the Elizabeth Line's central London stations.
The award will go to the one "considered to have made the most significant contribution to the evolution of UK architecture."
Over the past three weeks, it was revealed that there are 111 people from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, where there is a slightly different timetable, there are now 17 candidates.
Here are some of the latter-day Arts and Crafts that create pleasure through the sensual qualities of their materials, achieved with the help of sophisticated manufacturers and engineers.
Maggie's Centre in Southampton
Amanda Levete Architects designed the center's building to make the most of the landscape. It features rippling stainless steel and sparkling ceramic surfaces that reflect vegetation.
Feilden Fowle's Dining Hall
Homerton College at Cambridge's dining hall, designed by Feilden Fowles, is heavily focused on ceramics. Its exterior is made of deep green faience, which looks strong, but the interior is made of thin timber frames. In addition to the Southampton and Auckland projects, it is a fine example of architecture as an art.
Fish Island Village
Haworth Tompkins's Fish Island Village in Tower Hamlets, east London, is a prime illustration of the genre. The village replaces single-story sheds on a 2.23-ha site bounded by the busy A12 to the west and the Hertford Union Canal to the north, across which lies Hackney Wick.
Battersea Power Station
As they say, the greenest building is the one that already exists. In this situation, Wilkinson Eyre's skillful opening of the Battersea power station may be considered, even though it is difficult to admire the soulless shopping mall that is the end product. Once burning 240 tons of coal per hour and electrifying twenty percent of London, this carbon-belching beast has been transformed into a national monument.
Park Hill
Park Hill is the largest listed building in Europe, with 1000 dwellings. It is a brutalist housing estate in Sheffield, the first phase of which was shortlisted for the prize in 2013. One of the main reasons for its classification is its exposed concrete frame, making it a cold bridge.
Wraxall Yard
Clementine Blakemore Architects transformed a former dairy in Dorset's Wraxall Yard into inclusive and accessible vacation rentals centered around a lovely courtyard with wet rooms, grab rails, and level thresholds for wheelchair users.
King's Cross
The King's Cross master plan, created by Morrison, Demetri Porphyrios, and Allies, would be a deserving winner because it involves the patient and humane reconstruction of a large area of the capital city, with popular open spaces created in between well-built architecture and preserved old buildings.
The regional awards will generally showcase the finest contemporary British architecture.
A shortlist will be announced in September, and the prize winner will be in October.
