RIBA Stirling Prize 2021: Student ‘Town House’ named UK’s best new building

Dublin-based Grafton Architects wins top prize

Kingston University Town House, which has been named as the winner of the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize (PA)

A building described as a “progressive new model” for higher education has been named by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as the winner of the 25th RIBA Stirling Prize.

Kingston University London – Town House, designed by Dublin-based Grafton Architects, won the top UK architecture award from a shortlist of six.

The RIBA described the building as a “purposefully democratic and open space” designed to make the university’s students, many of whom are the first in their family to enroll in higher education, feel “welcome and valued”.

The building is set back from the street but is designed to extend the public realm, “generously blurring its boundary with the pavement and inviting everyone in”. A 200m-long, six-storey, deep colonnade is combined with terraces and gardens above to create “shelves of connected public space”.

It also has social and study spaces co-existing throughout the building including a library, archive, dance studio and theatre.

Speaking on behalf of the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize jury, Lord Norman Foster, said: “Kingston University Town House is a theatre for life – a warehouse of ideas. It seamlessly brings together student and town communities, creating a progressive new model for higher education, well deserving of international acclaim and attention.

“In this highly original work of architecture, quiet reading, loud performance, research and learning, can delightfully co-exist. That is no mean feat. Education must be our future – and this must be the future of education.”

The adaptable building aims to provide an inspiring environment for students, residents and visitors (PA)

Grafton Architects, whose Stirling Prize-winning site was their first built project in the UK, said in a statement: “We imagined a place where students would feel at home.

“This building is about people, interaction, light, possibilities. It is about connecting to the community, the passer-by, an invitation to cross the threshold; a three-dimensional framework with layers of silence and layers of sound. Space, volume and light are the organisers.

“The building edges are not boundaries but active gathering spaces, terraces, galleries. Being outside under the big sky is always just a few steps away.

“Kingston University gave us this educational vision which we translated into a spatial open matrix. We are absolutely delighted the Kingston Town House has won the prestigious Stirling Prize.”

Kingston University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steven Spier, said: “We had an incredibly ambitious brief – to create a space for students that would allow them to benefit from knowing each other, a library to inspire learning, dance studios and a softening of the threshold between gown and town.

“Grafton Architects delivered just such an innovative programme. The result is a breathtaking new building for Kingston University.

“The Stirling Prize confirms Town House as a world-class building and, therefore, a fitting foil to the aspirations of our students, many of whom are the first in their families to go to university.

“It is invigorating to witness the creativity, collaboration and shared learning this open, inviting space fosters.

“Our students have embraced Town House, relishing the opportunity to find their place within it and make its many spaces their own.

“Working with an architecture practice of Grafton Architects substantial expertise and international stature on what was their first building in the United Kingdom has enabled us to attain our bold vision for Town House – an achievement of which our students, staff and the wider community are truly proud.”

Kingston University London – Town House was joined on the six-strong shortlist by: Cambridge Central Mosque by Marks Barfield Architects; 15 Clerkenwell Close, London by GROUPWORK; Key Worker Housing – Eddington, Cambridge by Stanton Williams; Tintagel Castle Footbridge for English Heritage, Cornwall by Ney & Partners and William Matthews Associates; and Windermere Jetty Museum, Cumbria by Carmody Groarke.