The Most Selected Design Consultancies from Recent RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlists
Central Somers Town Community Facilities and Housing, Shortlisted for RIBA Stirling Prize 2023
ING Media, the leading communications agency for the built environment, has analysed recent data of the project teams involved in the architecture projects shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize over the last five cycles (2018-2023). The analysis offers a fresh perspective on the coveted architectural award, which requires buildings to demonstrate excellence in every area of design if they are to reach the shortlist.
The award, founded in 1996, is the highest profile British architectural award. Six shortlisted buildings are chosen from a long-list of buildings that have received a RIBA National Award. These awards are given to buildings showing "high architectural standards and substantial contribution to the local environment".
Max Fordham LLP, the building services engineer and sustainability specialist, ranks first with a portfolio of seven shortlisted projects in the past five years. This includes last year’s winning project, The New Library at Magdalene College, designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects, and three of the six shortlisted this year.
Structural engineers Price & Myers has worked on six shortlisted projects with consistent success in four out of the last five years. AKT II was responsible for the structural design of three projects, two of which were crowned winners: the Bloomberg building in 2018, designed by Foster + Partners, and Kingston University London’s Town House in 2021, designed by Grafton Architects.
Collaboration is also key to the success of shortlisting. Max Fordham LLP and Price & Myers have worked together on four of the projects shortlisted.
In landscape design, J&L Gibbons at four projects, and JCLA with three projects, led the pack. Sir Robert McAlpine, the UK’s 19th largest construction firm in 2022 according to Construction News, has built three of the shortlisted projects, including the 2018 winner, the Bloomberg. However, size doesn’t seem to be a factor in the shortlisting as Neilcott Construction is responsible for two shortlisted projects including this year’s Central Somers Town Community Facilities and Housing, designed by Adam Khan Architects.
Over the past five cycles, building services consultants have the smallest pool of organisations with just 16 firms across the 30 projects. In contrast, there are 27 different contractors.
Renewed focus on sustainability
In the RIBA’s recently launched manifesto for a better built environment, RIBA President Muyiwa Oki, said “With the clock ticking, it is imperative that we are pursuing effective climate action, including delivery of a robust strategy for minimising the carbon impact related to the built environment.”
The building and construction industry is responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions. Of this, 28% is attributed to a building’s operational efficiencies. A building’s structure accounts for 50% of its embodied carbon and landscape consultants will also play a pivotal role in realising the government’s 10% biodiversity net gain from January 2024 onwards.
“It is becoming increasingly urgent for clients and architects to more closely understand who is in their wider design team, especially the contractors, structural engineers, building services engineers, and landscape consultants, to deliver highly sustainable architecture worthy of being crowned the UK’s best new building.”
Since 2020, the RIBA Awards Group has made several changes to the judging criteria, most notably with the requirement that projects submitted must have been in use for at least a year post practical completion. Submissions now require a full year of energy bills and sustainability data to better align with the standards set out in the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge.
The analysis was conducted based on information available on the RIBA website. Some consultants on the design team weren’t named, and specialist consultancies have not been included. Of the consultants included in the analysis, Max Fordham LLP and Symmetrys are current ING Media clients, which has also worked with Elliot Wood and Webb Yates.
Read more in the Architects’ Journal.