Shortlist unveiled for prime minister’s Better Public Building awards
12 June, 2009
By Dan Stewart

List for best public-funded building includes schools, bridges – and an extension to the M6

A landscaped ring road, a canal link and a motorway extension are among the shortlisted projects for the prime minister’s Better Public Building awards 2009.

The annual award is given to the best publicly-funded building completed in the past year, and recognises successes in civil engineering and traditional building.

This year, Capita Symonds’ M6 extension in Cumbria is among the shortlisted projects, alongside Whitelaw Turkington’s Ashford ring road project and a canal link in Liverpool designed by Arup.

Several schools make the shortlist, including BDP’s Bridge Academy in Hackney and Wilkinson Eyre’s Bristol Metropolitan College, one of the first BSF schools to come to completion.

Bridge designers are also recognised, including Ramboll for its Cathedral Green footbridge in Derby and Expedition Engineering for the Infinity Bridge in Stockton-on-Tees.

Gordon Brown, the prime minister, said: “These projects show how creative design can make a real difference to how buildings and places work and can deliver public buildings that the community can take pride in".

The 26 shortlisted projects were:

    Ashford ring road project, Ashford, Kent by Whitelaw Turkington
    The Bridge Academy, Hackney, London by Building Design Partnership
    Brigg Line freight enhancement, Brigg, North Lincolnshire by Arup
    Bristol Metropolitan College, Bristol by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
    Cathedral Green Footbridge, Derby by Ramboll
    Clackmannanshire Bridge, Kincardine, Scotland by Scott Wilson, with Benaim
    Creativexchange, St Neots, Cambridgeshire by Clash Associates Ltd
    The Deck, National Theatre, London by A-EM Studio Ltd
    Dunraven School sports hall, Lambeth, London by SCABAL (Sall, Cullinan and Buck Architects Ltd)
    Ham flood defence scheme, Ham, Taunton, Somerset by Atkins
    Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry by Pringle Richards Sharratt
    Infinity Bridge, Stockton on Tees by Expedition Engineering
    Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College, Birmingham by Nicholas Hare Architects
    The Level Centre, Matlock, Derbyshire by Clash Associates
    Lewisburn Bridge, Kielder Village, Northumberland by Forestry Civil Engineering
    Liverpool canal link, Liverpool by Arup
    M6 Extension: Carlisle to Guards Mill, Cumbria by Capita Symonds
    M8 Harthill footbridge replacement, North Lanarkshire, Scotland by Buro Happold
    University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus extension, Nottingham by Make Architects
    Oldham Schools PFI Project, Oldham and Manchester by Architects Co-Partnership Ltd
    Whitehead Building, Goldsmiths, University of London, London by A-EM Studio Ltd
    Wood Lane Station, London by Ian Ritchie Architects
    Docklands Light Railway Woolwich Arsenal Extension, London by Halcrow
    ZEBRA@Lion House, Alnwick, Northumberland by Gibberd

© Building 2009