The Royal Institute of British Architects in London have announced 59 winners of this year’s RIBA Awards, including projects by David Chipperfield, Foster + Partners and OMA.

Above: Maggie’s Gartnavel by OMA, photo by Philippe Ruault
Top: The Hepworth Wakefield by David Chipperfield Architects, photo by Iwan Bann

The winners include 50 projects in the UK and nine from elsewhere in the EU.

Above: McLaren Production Centre by Foster + Partners

The shortlist for this year's Stirling Prize will be drawn from these winners.

Above: Sainsbury Laboratory by Stanton Williams, photo by Hufton + Crow

Here’s some more information from the RIBA, followed by the full list of winning projects:

Britain’s 50 best new buildings - 2012 RIBA Award winners are announced

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will announce the winners of the 2012 RIBA Awards on Thursday 21 June 2012. RIBA Awards for architectural excellence will be presented to 50 buildings in the UK and 9 buildings elsewhere in the EU. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the building of the year will be drawn from the 59 RIBA Award winners.

Above: 2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous, photo by Morley von Sternberg

This year’s winners range from a house in the shape of a sand dune to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, from a demountable opera pavilion to the radical transformation of a Spanish bull-fighting arena. Well-known architects and smaller architecture practices will be battling it out to make it onto this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist alongside television presenter Kevin McCloud and philosopher Alain de Botton who have nailed their colours to the mast and commissioned two of this year’s award-winning buildings.

Above: Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama by BFLS, photo by Nick Guttridge

The dominant theme amongst this year’s winners are major public arts buildings – ten of which have made the grade; many are the result of pre-recession arts lottery funding which has a typically long gestation period. The beautifully finished projects include Bath’s Holburne Museum (Eric Parry Architects) and the Hepworth Wakefield (David Chipperfield Architects).

Above: BFI Master Film Store by Edward Cullinan, photo by Edmund Sumner

Refreshingly, the vast majority of the 2012 RIBA Awards winners are in regional towns, with awards across all genre types. Two of the UK’s best-loved seaside towns have received surprising new additions to their coastline and, in the case of the Turner Contemporary at Margate, been hailed as a boost to the town’s economy.

Above: Campus for Central Saint Martins by Stanton Williams, photo by Hufton + Crow

This year’s winners reveal a trend which could be termed ‘austerity chic’, with a strong presence of crafted and considered buildings, using carefully selected materials which emphasize texture, authenticity and environmental efficiency. The Brockholes Nature Reserve Visitor Centre in Lancashire is the perfect example of this – a wooden ‘floating village’ designed to enhance our enjoyment of nature and with an enviable energy rating.

Above: Turner Contemporary by David Chipperfield, photo by Richard Bryant

Thoughtful stitching-together of the existing urban fabric is another theme - with the clever reuse and reinvention of existing spaces. Impressive examples of this include London’s new Exhibition Road streetscape and Central St Martin’s Campus, while impressive urban projects such as Kevin McCloud’s housing project, The Triangle in Swindon and the new Lyric Theatre in Belfast demonstrate how to make the best use of confined urban spaces.

Above: Dune House by Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects and Mole Architects, photo by Chris Wright

Speaking today, RIBA President Angela Brady said:

“For nearly fifty years the RIBA Awards have reflected the changing state of British architecture and revealed emerging design trends. What really stands out is that even in times of austerity, we can still deliver amazingly clever, high quality buildings that reflect the needs of today and enhance our daily lives. The judges were delighted to see so many well considered, crafted and innovative projects, and the use of beautiful materials; these projects are truly exciting and inspiring. The huge range of great buildings will guarantee an exciting RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist later in the year and illustrates the value of quality in architecture.”

Above: The Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, photo by Craig Aukland

The 50 UK buildings that have won an RIBA Award are:

Scotland:

»  National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh - Gareth Hoskins Architects
»  Bogbain Mill, Maryburgh - Rural Design
»  Dundee Council Civic Office, Dundee - Reiach and Hall Architects
»  Maggie’s Gartnavel, Glasgow - OMA
»  Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh - Page/Park Architects

Northern Ireland:

»  Glenariffe House, Glens of Antrim - McGarry-Moon Architects
»  Lyric Theatre, Belfast - O’Donnell + Tuomey
»  Public Records Office of Belfast, Northern Ireland - Todd Architects
»  Rear Extension to 109 Osborne Park, Belfast - ard (ciaran mackel) Architects

North East:

»  Roseberry Park, Middlesbrough - Medical Architecture
»  Toffee Factory, Newcastle upon Tyne - xsite architecture

North West:

»  Brockholes Visitor Centre, Lancashire - Adam Khan Architects
»  Festival House, Blackpool - dRMM Architects
»  North House, Bowden - Roger Stephenson Architects

Yorkshire:

»  Kirk Balk Community College, Barnsley - Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
»  Saxton, Leeds - Union North
»  The Hepworth Wakefield - David Chipperfield Architects

Wales:

»  Maggie’s South West Wales, Swansea - Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates with Garber & James
»  Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff - BFLS

West Midlands:

»  BFI Master Film Store, Warwickshire - Edward Cullinan Architects

East Midlands:

»  Caistor Arts & Heritage Centre, Lincolnshire - Jonathan Hendry Architects
»  Easton Neston Estate, Northamptonshire - Ptolemy Dean Architects
»  Loughborough Design School, Loughborough - Burwell Deakins Architects

East:

»  Brentwood School Sixth Form Centre & Assembly Hall, Essex - Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
»  Royal Veterinary College Student Village, Hatfield - Hawkins\Brown
»  The Dune House, Suffolk - Jarmund Vigsnaes Architects & Mole Architects
»  The Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge - Stanton Williams

South West & Wessex:

»  Private House, Gloucestershire - Found Associates
»  The Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care, Bath - Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
»  The Holburne Museum, Bath - Eric Parry Architects
»  The Triangle, Swindon - Glenn Howells Architects

South:

»  Garsington Opera Pavilion, High Wycombe - Snell Associates
»  The Shulman Auditorium, Oxford - Berman Guedes Stretton
»  Student Accommodation, Somerville College, Oxford - Niall McLaughlin Architects

South East:

»  McLaren Production Centre, Surrey - Foster + Partners
»  Turner Contemporary, Kent - David Chipperfield Architects

London:

»  14 St George Street and 50 New Bond Street, London W1S - Eric Parry Architects
»  Exhibition Road, London SW7 - Dixon Jones
»  Dalling Road, London - Hayhurst and Co. in collaboration with Lucy Carmichael
»  Peabody Avenue, Pimlico, London SW1V - Haworth Tompkins
»  The St. Paul’s Centre at St. Paul’s Church, Hammersmith, London W6 - Richard Griffiths Architects
»  The Hurlingham Club, Outdoor Pool, London SW6 - David Morley Architects
»  Kings Grove, London SE15 - Duggan Morris Architects
»  White Cube, Bermondsey, London SE1 - Casper Mueller Kneer Architects
»  Hackney Marshes Centre, London E9 - Stanton Williams
»  London Olympic Stadium, London E20 - POPULOUS
»  New Court, London, EC4N - OMA with Allies and Morrison
»  St. Pancras Chambers, London NW1 - RHWL Architects with Richard Griffiths Architects
»  Henrietta Barnett School London NW11 Hopkins Architects
»  University of the Arts London Campus, Central Saint Martins at King’s Cross. Phase 1: Granary Complex, London N1C - Stanton Williams

The 9 RIBA Award buildings in the European Union are:

»  PJ Carroll’s Factory Dundalk, Ireland - scott tallon walker architects
»  Wexford County Council Headquarters, Wexford, Ireland - Robin Lee Architecture
»  Solid 11 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Tony Fretton Architects
»  Las Arenas Barcelona, Spain - Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
»  Bilbao Arena Bilbao, Spain - Idom UK
»  H27D Constance, Germany - Kraus Schoenberg Architects
»  maison L Yvelines, France - architecturespossibles
»  Centre Pompidou – Metz Metz, France - Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastine Architectes with Gumuchdjian Architects
»  FCN 2009 Portelle, Italy - M Guiseppina Grasso Cannizzo

The RIBA Stirling Prize is awarded to the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year. The prize will be presented on Saturday 13 October.