Hepworth gallery and Olympic
Stadium in quest for design gold

The Hepworth Wakefield, situated on the south side of the River Calder, is one of six “exceptional” buildings shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Stirling Prize, which celebrates the best of new British architecture.

The £22.8m gallery, which opened last year, was created by David Chipperfield Architects, the only previous Stirling Prize winner on this year’s shortlist, having won in 2007 for its Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany.

As well as kudos, at stake is £20,000 in prize money.

The gallery is characterised by a series of 10 small, trapezoidal blocks which give it the appearance of a sculpture in reference to its contents.

The judges’ citation said: “The building gives a sense of being made specifically for the work of Hepworth whilst at the same time being very much of Yorkshire, grounded and granite like. An affirming project on every level.”

The other shortlisted buildings are Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Glasgow, the Sainsbury Laboratory for plant science in Cambridge, the New Court Rothschild Bank in London, and the reincarnation of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.

Angela Brady, RIBA president, said: “All of the shortlisted buildings demonstrate the essence of great architecture; they are human-scale buildings, places to inspire, entertain, educate and comfort their visitors and passers-by. Every building not only works beautifully from within but has a superb relationship with its surroundings, with a strong interplay between the two.

“They don’t shout ‘look at me’ and even the tallest building, New Court in the City of London, has created good views for passing pedestrians, meeting the challenge of delivering good urban design in an historic area. The 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize judges have a difficult job to select a winner from this pool of great talent.”

The winner will be announced at an event in Manchester on October 13.