Newport Street Gallery, located in Vauxhall, has won the 2016 Riba Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building.
The free-of-charge gallery, designed by Caruso St John Architects, is located on a street facing a railway line in Vauxhall, and is home to artist Damien Hirst's private art collection.
A string of three grade-listed Victorian buildings (formerly carpentry and scenery workshops for West End theatres) have been remodelled by the architects and flanked at each end by entirely new buildings, one with a distinctive spiky saw-tooth roof.
The ground and upper floors within the five interconnected buildings are continuous, accessed at the side by elaborate spiral staircases.
Judges praised the design for its “poetic juxtaposition of old and new”, creative use of LED technology on the exterior, and spiral staircases that work well with the “continuous and coherent sequence” of the gallery spaces.
“With Newport Street Gallery, Damien Hirst has made an exceptional contribution to the UK’s strong history of private patronage of architecture. Not only has Damien opened up his enviable private art collection to the world, but he has commissioned a real work of art to house it in,” said Jane Duncan, the president of Riba.
“Caruso St John has created a stunningly versatile space from a number of linked buildings, with beautifully crafted staircases and superb details including tactile brick facades that blend the street externally and create a succession of wonderful gallery spaces.”
Peter St John, a partner at Caruso St John Architects, said: “It's rare for architects to be given the opportunity to realise a personal vision of the quality of the Newport Street Gallery, and for that vision to have a generous public dimension.
"We see the building as a palace for direct, intimate and luxurious encounters with contemporary art, and we are very pleased that this award will bring more people to see this extraordinary collection.”
The Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford; City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus; Outhouse, Forest of Dean, Trafalgar Place, London; Weston Library, Oxford were also shortlisted for the 2016 prize.
The free-of-charge gallery, designed by Caruso St John Architects, is located on a street facing a railway line in Vauxhall, and is home to artist Damien Hirst's private art collection.
A string of three grade-listed Victorian buildings (formerly carpentry and scenery workshops for West End theatres) have been remodelled by the architects and flanked at each end by entirely new buildings, one with a distinctive spiky saw-tooth roof.
The ground and upper floors within the five interconnected buildings are continuous, accessed at the side by elaborate spiral staircases.
Judges praised the design for its “poetic juxtaposition of old and new”, creative use of LED technology on the exterior, and spiral staircases that work well with the “continuous and coherent sequence” of the gallery spaces.
“With Newport Street Gallery, Damien Hirst has made an exceptional contribution to the UK’s strong history of private patronage of architecture. Not only has Damien opened up his enviable private art collection to the world, but he has commissioned a real work of art to house it in,” said Jane Duncan, the president of Riba.
“Caruso St John has created a stunningly versatile space from a number of linked buildings, with beautifully crafted staircases and superb details including tactile brick facades that blend the street externally and create a succession of wonderful gallery spaces.”
Peter St John, a partner at Caruso St John Architects, said: “It's rare for architects to be given the opportunity to realise a personal vision of the quality of the Newport Street Gallery, and for that vision to have a generous public dimension.
"We see the building as a palace for direct, intimate and luxurious encounters with contemporary art, and we are very pleased that this award will bring more people to see this extraordinary collection.”
The Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford; City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus; Outhouse, Forest of Dean, Trafalgar Place, London; Weston Library, Oxford were also shortlisted for the 2016 prize.
