My favourite RIBA Stirling Award Prize winner is Zaha
Hadid’s, Evelyn Grace Academy that won the prize in 2011. Evelyn Grace Academy
was a 10,745m² project situated in London, to create a building to provide
education to four individual schools that would occupy the same building and
make use of a shared outdoor space. The first thing that drew my attention was
the overall aesthetics of the building and its unique style and shapes. The
materials used for the main structure were steel and concrete which can be seen
throughout the entire building, the walls of the school have also been created
using glass for various different reasons. The exterior of the structure has
been constructed using reflective materials such as metal and glass which
reflects the sunlight and creates a strong visual and makes the building stand
out in the residential area. Glass façades have been used to allow maximum
amount of sunlight to enter into the interior to create bright spacious areas
that create an environment that helps engage students in learning and creates
an atmosphere for progressive teaching. The structure has been designed into a
Zig-Zag pattern that runs throughout the entire building which gives it a
futuristic look and greater aesthetics. One of the main features of the project
is the relationship between the school and the surrounding area. The building
has been designed to work around the outdoor space and has a running track that
flows underneath the bridge of the building. I believe the main purpose of
wrapping the building around the landscaped area was to create an environment
that follows the phrase, ‘work hard, play hard’ showing that you can have fun
and study in the same place. There are also many internal details that have
been put in place to help fulfil the brief of creating a space to learn and
study, The corridors inside have been made wider than regulations state,
classrooms have been positioned beside large windows and the ceiling to floor
height has been nearly doubled. By using these features they have created a
large open space that allows greater levels of light and air to filter through
the building, creating a well illuminated airy space that will reduce levels of
stress that comes with school and enable the students to further engage in
their studies. It is these smart internal features as well as the architectural
design used to enhance the aesthetics of the building that make this my
favourite RIBA Stirling Award Prize winner.
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My least favourite building that has won the award is the
Scottish Parliament that won in 2005. The main reason I dislike the building is
due to the materials used and the design. The building is constructed using a
wide range of materials from metal, concrete and timber inside and outside and
organised in a variety of random oval like shapes. I don’t think it is a very
aesthetically pleasing building as it looks too compact and messy, as the
materials are all used at different levels and there are no flush surfaces. The
use of shiny metal for the roof on the inside and highlighting structural
elements in yellow looks very scrappy and the building look like an industrial
factory. The Parliament is a room within the building I particularly am not
fond of. The way that all the lighting barrels and fixtures are on display and
not covered up take away from the pleasant looking roof trusses and make the
overall room look unfinished. Although I respect the design put into creating
the wavy roof structure and how it works, I just don’t appreciate how it looks
from above or from the inside, as it looks strange and uncomfortable. The
design features put into the external windows are very unique and interesting
but my personal opinion is that they are random and look slightly out of place
on a parliament building. With regards to it being a parliament building you
would usually expect it to be a very grand, professional building, but as it is
a very busy and stressful area the attempt of using unusual, funky shapes is a
way of trying to brighten up the space and give something to look at whilst at
work. I do believe that the project fulfilled the clients brief as it is a
fully operational parliament building with sufficient space and offices. It is
also a very unique style of building that stands out within the area, which
could be an attempt to draw more attention to the building and improve the
local environment, but personally I just don’t like the style used and see it
more of an eyesore than an aesthetically pleasing development.
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