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RIBA STIRLING PRIZE SHORTLIST

JUNE 2015

RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist

Niall McLaughlin Architects are thrilled that Darbishire Place, Whitechapel Peabody Housing has been shortlisted for this year’s Stirling Prize.

Writing about Darbishire Place in a piece written for the Guardian, Olivier Wainwright said ” Filling in the gap of a second world war bomb site, the building follows the sobriety of Darbishire’s designs for “cheap, cleanly, well drained and healthful dwellings for the poor”, but updates it with generous internal spaces and sharply-crafted details that make it as near to a model housing scheme as you could find”.

The RIBA President Stephen Hodder, says: “The shortlisted projects are each surprising new additions to urban locations – hemmed into a hospital car park, in-filling an east London square, completing a school campus. But their stand-out common quality is their exceptionally executed crafted detail.”

The other 5 buildings making this years shortlist are Burntwood School in Wandsworth, designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris; the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre in Lanarkshire, by Reiach and Hall; the NEO Bankside luxury apartments in Southwark, Rogers Stirk Harbour; the Library and Teaching Building at the University of Greenwich, by Heneghan Peng; and the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, by MUMA.

AUCKLAND CASTLE COMPETITION WIN

FEBRUARY 2014

Auckland Castle Competition Win

Niall McLaughlin Architects and Purcell have won the competition to transform Auckland Castle in County Durham into a national museum of religion and religious art. The former historic home of the bishops of Durham, the castle is considered to be the third most historically significant ecclesiastical complex in Europe, after the Vatican and Avignon. Auckland Castle was bought by businessman and philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer who aims to turn it into a major visitor attraction and heritage site in the North East.  The client hopes to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund in support of the project and set up the Auckland Castle Trust to oversee the restoration and development of the castle and grounds. The central attraction will be the rare paintings by Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán, considered to be some of the most significant religious treasures in Europe and part of the castle’s history for more than 250 years.

Auckland Castle Website