The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced today the winners of the 2016 RIBA National Awards, the most rigorous and prestigious awards for new buildings in the UK. RIBA National Award-winning buildings set the standard for good architecture and proved the shortlist for the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best building of the year will be drawn from the 46 award-winning buildings announced today.

House of Trace, London, England, by Tsuruta Architects. Image courtesy of Tsuruta Architects

Award winners include Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool with a striking, undulating grass roof, The Avenue, a development of 76 new homes in pastoral Essex that challenges the blight of uninspiring new housing estates by incorporating the character and pattern of the local town.

ARK All Saints Academy and Highshore School, London, England, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. Image © Timothy Soar

Gloucester Services is  a beautifully-detailed motorway services in the Cotswolds that offers tired motorists a tranquil respite, a new shimmering stainless steel library at an Oxford college by the late Zaha Hadid’s firm; and ARK All Saints Academy and Highshore School is the classy and elegant transformation of a failing secondary and special needs school in south London by the architects of last year’s RIBA Stirling Prize winner.

Banbridge Health and Care Centre, Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, by Kennedy FitzGerald Architects. Image © Donal Mccann & Felix O'Hare & Co

Mecanoo, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid Architects, DRMM Architects, WilkinsonEyre, Herzog&de Meuron, Walters & Cohen Architects and Allies and Morrison & PM Devereux are among the winners contributing to the UK's architecture.

Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford, England, by Herzog & de Meuron. Image © Iwan Baan

Speaking today, RIBA President Jane Duncan said: ''The RIBA National Awards are a great indicator of UK design, economic and construction trends.''

''One stand-out trend from this year’s crop of winners is the huge scale of investment and ambition shown by many of the UK’s universities and colleges; almost one quarter of the winning projects (11 buildings) are in this category.  As universities and colleges in the UK are competing for students from here and overseas, it is encouraging to see so much emphasis placed on the power of architecture to help institutions to attract students and stand out from the mediocre.

Bob Champion Research and Education Building, Norwich, England, by Hawkins\Brown. Image © Gareth Gardner 

“I am delighted to see that four fantastic school buildings have made the grade too.  Too many of our school and education buildings are in disrepair; with limited funding available to provide our children and their teachers with great learning spaces, every penny spent on schools must deliver maximum value for money.''

Drawing Studio, Poole, Dorset, England, by CRAB Studio. Image © Jenna Al-Ali / Richard Bryant

''I am pleased to see a strong selection of new housing developments amongst our winners, including new models for public housing and semi-rural development. We urgently need new homes, but too often we see projects which have cut corners in quality which fails the people these new homes are meant to serve. I hope these achievements in housing inspire other developers. 

Derry Avenue, South Ockendon, Essex, England, by Bell Phillips Architects. Image © Kilian O'Sullivan, Jamie Campbell 

''The RIBA National Awards put a spotlight on some of the smaller and unique, but no less ambitious, projects such as the Drawing Studio at Bournemouth University, Gloucester Services or the conservation and reinvigoration of Wilton’s Music Hall. They show that budget, location or many other challenges are no constraints to the production of superb quality architecture as long as you have the commitment of an imaginative and capable architect working with a great client. These 46 buildings are what the best architecture looks like today.'' 

Gloucester Services, Gloucestershire, England, by Glenn Howells Architects. Image © Paul Miller

The 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist will be announced on Thursday 14 July; the winner will be announced on Thursday 6 October 2016.

Greenwich Gateway Pavilions, London England, by Marks Barfield Architects. Image © Timothy Soar

See the list of winners of the 2016 RIBA National Awards below:

-51 Hills Road; Cambridge, England, by Gort Scott
-61 Oxford Street; London, England, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
-8 St James's Square; London, England, by Eric Parry Architects
-A private house in Cumbria; England, by Bennetts Associates
-A private house in Northamptonshire; England, by James Gorst Architects
-Alder Hey Children's Hospital; Liverpool, England, by BDP
-ARK All Saints Academy and Highshore School; London, England, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
-Banbridge Health and Care Centre; Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, by Kennedy FitzGerald Architects

HOME, Manchester, England by Mecanoo. Image © Machteld Schoep

-Blavatnik School of Government; Oxford, England, by Herzog & de Meuron
-Bob Champion Research and Education Building; Norwich, England, by Hawkins\Brown
-City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus; Glasgow, Scotland, by Michael Laird Architects, Reiach and Hall Architects

Wirral Metropolitan College, Wallasey, Merseyside, England by Glenn Howells Architects. Image © Paul Miller

-Corner House; London, England, by DSDHA
-Davenies School; Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, by DSDHA
-Derry Avenue; South Ockendon, Essex, England, by Bell Phillips Architects
-Drawing Studio; Poole, Dorset, England, by CRAB Studio

Outhouse, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, by Loyn & Co Architects. Image © Charles Hosea

-Ely Court; London, England, by Alison Brooks Architects
-Essex University – Albert Sloman Library and Silberrad Student Centre; Colchester, England, by Patel Taylor
-Gloucester Services; Gloucestershire, England, by Glenn Howells Architects
-Greenwich Gateway Pavilions; London England, by Marks Barfield Architects

National Graphene Institute, Manchester, England, by Jestico + Whiles. Image © Hufton+Crow

-Greenwich housing; London, England, by Bell Phillips Architects
-Heart of Campus, Nottingham Trent University; Nottingham, England, by Evans Vettori
-Hebburn Central; Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, England, by FaulknerBrowns Architects
-HOME; Manchester, England by Mecanoo
-House of Trace; London, England, by Tsuruta Architects

A private house in Northamptonshire, England, by James Gorst Architects. Image © Alex Franklin

-Laidlaw Library, University of Leeds; Leeds, England, by ADP
-Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; London, England, by Allies and Morrison
-Murphy House; Edinburgh, Scotland, by Richard Murphy Architects

Weston Library, Oxford, England, by WilkinsonEyre. Image © James Brittain

-National Graphene Institute; Manchester, England, by Jestico + Whiles
-New QEII Hospital; Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, by Penoyre & Prasad LLP
-Newport Street Gallery; Vauxhall, London, England, by Caruso St John Architects
-Outhouse; Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, by Loyn & Co Architects

Regent High School, London, England, by Walters & Cohen Architects. Image © Dennis Gilbert

-Regent High School; London, England, by Walters & Cohen Architects
-Royal Road; Elephant & Castle, London, England, by Panter Hudspith Architects
-Saunders Centre, Science & Technology Building; Glasgow, Scotland, by Page\Park Architects

Murphy House, Edinburgh, Scotland, by Richard Murphy Architects. Image © Keith Hunter

-Sir John Soane Museum; London, England, by Julian Harrap Architects
-Stanbrook Abbey; York, Yorkshire, England, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
-The Avenue; Saffron Walden, Essex, England, by Pollard Thomas Edwards
-The Cheeran House; Reading, Berkshire, England, by John Pardey Architects

Stanbrook Abbey, York, Yorkshire, England, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. Image © Tim Crocker and Peter Cook

-The Investcorp Building; Oxford, England, by Zaha Hadid Architects
-The Portland Collection; Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, by Hugh Broughton Architects
-Trafalgar Place; London, England, by dRMM Architects
-Turnmill; London, England, by Piercy&Company

Trafalgar Place, London, England, by dRMM Architects. Image © Alex De Rijke, Lea Ingemann Bjerg & Daniel Romero

-Weston Library; Oxford, England, by WilkinsonEyre
-Wilton's Music Hall; London, England by Tim Ronalds Architects
-Wirral Metropolitan College; Wallasey, Merseyside, England by Glenn Howells Architects
-York Art Gallery; Yorkshire, England, by Ushida Findlay Simpson Brown

To image: A private house in Cumbria, England, by Bennetts Associates. Image © Brian Ormerod 

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