A primary school, a memorial sculpture and a gasholder are among the London winners of a RIBA National Award 2018.
49 buildings across the country were recognised as having made a significant contribution to architecture, from a high school in Scotland to a theatre in Liverpool, but an impressive number of the winners are London buildings.
The V&A's new Exhibition Road Quarter entrance, which opened to much hype last summer, was named RIBA London Building of the Year 2018, while the memorial to victims of the 1943 Bethnal Green tube station disaster won RIBA London Project Architect of the Year 2018.
The King's Cross gasholders, now home to a spa, gym, roof garden and cinema also won, as did nearby Victoria Halls housing block which blends Middle Eastern architecture with the industrial heritage of King's Cross, and includes rooftop gardens. Other housing designs on the list include Riverlight apartments in Vauxhall, and Chadwick Hall, student accommodation at the University of Roehampton (which looks a heck of a lot nicer than our former student digs).
Kingsgate Primary School, built on a former industrial estate in Hampstead was recognised in providing an 'intelligent urban design solution', due to the way it allows parents to drop children off without causing congestion in the local area (one of our biggest London pet peeves).
Unsurprisingly, the new Bloomberg Building at Bank made the list, as did the Shaftesbury Theatre — now the only West End theatre which has an auditorium roof which can be opened.
The Cheesegrater — officially known as the Leadenhall Building — is a surprising entry on this year's list, given that it was completed four years ago. However, it was only fully opened this year, after the final security fence was taken down.
Other London buildings and structures recognised in the awards include:
- 15 Clerkenwell Close
- 25 Savile Row
- 53 Great Suffolk Street
- Caroline Place
- Marlborough Primary School
- Walthamstow Wetlands
See the full list of RIBA National Awards 2018 winners, including all the London winners.
