Goldsmith Street – RIBA Stirling Prize 2019
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has been commemorating unique and creative architecture for nearly two centuries. Every year, RIBA celebrates the best architects, research and structures with the RIBA Awards, recognising the achievements of some truly innovative and inspiring designs. The RIBA Awards are broken down into several categories, and buildings are nominated based on location, budget and unique characteristics.
The UK’s highest architectural accolade is arguably the RIBA Stirling Prize, which is a longstanding domestic award for exceptional architecture. Previous winners have included the Imperial War Museum, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Bloomberg Building, which was bestowed last year’s award.
This year’s winner comes from deep in the heart of Norfolk.
RICH IN ARCHITECTURE AND COMMUNITY
Award-winning, London-based architects Mikhail Riches, have been a trendsetter in creating buildings that they deem “inspirational”. Awe-inspiring commercial buildings rich in creative design, and clamouring with potential are Mikhail Riches’ raisons d’etre. They specialise in creating diverse standalone homes made from signature brick designs, as well as social housing that boasts a beautiful aura. Their expansive portfolio encompasses much of UK soil, including Hoxton House (London), Malmo Quay (Newcastle) and Clay Field (Suffolk).
The lattermost design is a social housing scheme, which is also what this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize winner is. Goldsmith Street, based in Norwich, is a council-backed project to create almost 100 energy-efficient social houses. This scheme is the largest in the UK to achieve ‘Passivhaus’ certification, a meticulous process that reduces the ecological footprint of a building. Norwich City Council developed the site without any housing association or partner, marking a significantly different type of investment from the local authority.
Mikhail Riches have had a busy 2019, with Goldsmith Street having won the following awards already:
- RIBA East Award
- RIBA National Award
- RIBA East Sustainability Award
- RIBA East Client of the Year
- Housing Design Award
Glazed bricks are frequently used in renovation projects, and can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colours and finishes that range from glossy and clean to a matte finish. You'd be hard-pressed to find a glazed brick that didn't come in the dimensions that you want. Due to their exceptional weight and extra coat, they are able to withstand most harsh weather conditions, having been used repeatedly in countries with below freezing temperatures as well as devastatingly hot climates.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
The 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize judges, chaired by Julia Barfield, said:
“Goldsmith Street is a modest masterpiece. It is high-quality architecture in its purest, most environmentally and socially conscious form. Behind restrained creamy façades are impeccably-detailed, highly sustainable homes – an incredible achievement for a development of this scale. This is proper social housing, over ten years in the making, delivered by an ambitious and thoughtful council. These desirable, spacious, low-energy properties should be the norm for all council housing.”
RUNNERS UP
The other five buildings who were shortlisted for the 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize were: