The 11th RIBA Stirling prize for architecture has been won by Richard Rogers Partnership's Barajas Airport. The award, held in association with the Architect's Journal, was presented on Saturday night in London.
The airport beat off stiff competition from five other outstanding contenders: Brick House, London - Caruso St John Architects; Evelina Children's Hospital, London - Hopkins Architects; Idea Store, Whitechapel, London - Adjaye/Associates; National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff - Richard Rogers Partnership; Phaeno Science Centre, Wolfsburg, Germany - Zaha Hadid Architects and Mayer Bährle Freie Architekten BDA, Germany.
The prize is the most prestigious in UK architecture, and is awarded annually to the building which has contributed most to the development of the subject each year.
'Whatever the means of approach, by air or by land, the sheer scale and complexity of what has been tackled and achieved here cannot be over-estimated,' said the judges of the project.
'The building presents a straightforward linear diagram in the form of a clear sequence of spectacular spaces for both departing and arriving passengers.'
The jury consisted of Ian Ritchie - architect and panel Chair; Isabel Allen - Editor, The Architects' Journal; Stefan Behnisch - architect; Mariella Frostrup - journalist and broadcaster; and Martha Schwartz - landscape architect.
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