Winners Of The 2015 RIBA London Awards Are Announced

The restoration and re-use of a 1930’s Art Deco former cinema in Bayswater, an elegantly pragmatic fourteen-storey office block in King’s Cross, and a dramatic refurbishment of a Grade 2 listed religious hall in Euston are amongst the 38 winning projects that have been bestowed London’s top architecture accolade at the 2015 RIBA London Awards.

One of the major winners of the night, taking the RIBA London Building of the Year Award,supported by BLP Insurance, were Architecture 00 for The Foundry(pictured top right), a stripped back and rebuilt former shoe polish factory transformed on a small budget into a Social Justice and Human Rights Centre in Vauxhall.The other big winners of the night were Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands who took the RIBA London Architect of the Year Award,presented by onefinestay for their new flagship store for the Soho institution and bookseller Foyles on Charing Cross Road (pictured below). The project is a triumphant resurrection of a stuffy and declining bookstore into a dynamic literary emporium that transforms bookshopping for Londoners.The judges were so impressed with Foyles and the relationship they forged with Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands that they awarded Foyles the RIBA London
Client of the Year Award stating:
“This project is a rare example of an independent retailer working closely with the architect and design team to transform bookshopping into a social, cultural and even urban experience.”Rising stars on the London architecture scene, vPPR Architects took the RIBA London Emerging Architect of the Year Award for Vaulted House, a family house built on the walled site of a former taxi garage, and almost entirely hidden in the middle of a Victorian block in Chiswick.

RIBA London interim Director Owen Wainhouse said: “London is an open and international city and has perhaps the highest concentration of design talent found anywhere in the world. Not just in architecture – but right across the creative industries.“It’s that concentration of talent, exchange of ideas and fierce competition that makes London such an exciting and challenging place for the practice of architecture. This year’s RIBA London Award winners demonstrate the ability of quality architecture to change people’s lives and enrich London’s built environment.”IBA London Regional Award winners will also be considered for a highly coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which are announced on 18 June. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later in the year.
The RIBA Awards have been running continuously since 1966 and are judged and presented locally. No matter the shape, size,budget or location, RIBA Award winning schemes set the standard for great architecture all across the country.

The RIBA’s London Region represents some 12,000 members and over 1,000 chartered practices in the capital and aims to promote excellence in the profession and the value of good design through a range of projects that celebrate achievements, campaign for quality, develop skills, offer training,further education and create opportunities for those in the