About the project
Goldsmith Street is comprised of almost 100 ultra low-energy homes for Norwich City Council. The result is the UK’s largest social housing scheme to achieve ‘Passivhaus’ Certification.

Goldsmith Street is a ground-breaking project and an outstanding contribution to British architecture
David Mikhail, founding director of winning architect firm Mikhail Riches, said: “Goldsmith Street’s success is testimony to the vision and leadership of Norwich City Council. We thank them for their commitment and support. They believe that council housing tenants deserve great design.

“We hope other Local Authorities will be inspired to deliver beautiful homes for people who need them the most, and at an affordable price.”

With seven terrace blocks arranged in four rows and bookended by three–storey flats, the design exploits angled sloping roofs to maximise daylight throughout the development and prioritises pedestrians over cars.

In addition to low fuel bills, a clear social focus was a priority for architects Mikhail Riches. In a bid to create community and limit isolation they were keen that front doors faced front doors, and looked to a traditional Victorian street model for inspiration. With cars pushed to the outer edges of the development more space is available for people to walk and for children to play safely.

The 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize judges, chaired by Julia Barfield, praised Goldsmith Street “as a modest masterpiece. It is high-quality architecture in its purest most environmentally and socially-conscious form. Behind restrained creamy façades are impeccably-detailed, highly sustainable homes – an incredible achievement for a development of this scale. This is proper social housing, over ten years in the making, delivered by an ambitious and thoughtful council. These desirable, spacious, low-energy properties should be the norm for all council housing.

“Over a quarter of the site is communal space – evidence of the generosity of the scheme. A secure alleyway connects neighbours at the bottom of their garden fences and a lushly-planted communal area runs through the estate, providing an inviting place for residents to gather and children to play, fostering strong community engagement and social cohesion.

“Goldsmith Street is a ground-breaking project and an outstanding contribution to British architecture.”

RIBA President Alan Jones added: “Faced with a global climate emergency, the worst housing crisis for generations and crippling local authority cuts, Goldsmith Street is a beacon of hope. It is commended not just as a transformative social housing scheme and eco-development, but a pioneering exemplar for other local authorities to follow.”

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3rgQ8SvcsZrrgBt6Y8rs7rX/goldsmith-street-wins-the-riba-stirling-prize-2019

From a small rammed-stone pavilion on the site where King John signed the Magna Carta (Writ in Water) to the vast redevelopment of one of London’s busiest transport terminals (London Bridge); from significant investment in cultural landmarks (Bristol Old Vic and V&A Dundee) to a new model for communal living (Marmalade Lane) – this year’s award-winning buildings showcase the extraordinary breadth and brilliance of UK architecture today.

Key trends illustrated by the 54 2019 RIBA National Award winners include:

Restoration and regeneration of listed and historic buildings

The refurbishment of a listed 1960s bus station in Lancashire (Preston Bus Station); the revival of Battersea Arts Centre in London which had been left derelict after a fire in 2015; the restoration of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Art Deco tea rooms in Glasgow (Mackintosh at the Willow); and a new tower at Westminster Abbey – the most significant addition to the building since 1745 (Westminster Abbey Triforium Project).

Ambition to create high quality cultural destinations

An unobtrusive visitors centre nestled in the Yorkshire landscape (The Weston at Yorkshire Sculpture Park); the subtle extension of a house-turned-art gallery in Cambridge (Kettles Yard); a stable block converted theatre in Leicestershire (Nevill Holt Opera); and the transformation of a 19th century fire station into a gallery and community building (South London Gallery Fire Station) are four of the 16 new additions to the UK’s cultural scene.

Pockets of exemplary volume housing

Highly-sustainable terraced housing at Goldsmith Street for Norwich City Council; the reinvigoration of a listed post-war London housing block, Great Arthur House; and Cambridge’s first co-housing community, a neighbourhood with shared facilities (Marmalade Lane).

Speaking today, RIBA President Ben Derbyshire said:

“Despite the political and economic challenges of recent years, our 2019 RIBA National Award winners show that UK architecture is highly adaptable, immensely talented and as community-focused as ever.

I am particularly heartened that more than one third (20 of 54) of our winners have creatively adapted existing buildings. Given the scale of the global environmental challenge, we must encourage sustainable development and investment in buildings of the highest quality – projects that will inspire and meet the needs of generations to come.

At a time when the country is crying out for innovative, high-quality affordable housing, I am pleased we have been able to recognise some exemplar schemes. I encourage all local authorities and developers to look to these projects for inspiration and rise to the challenge of building the homes people want and need.

Our 2019 RIBA National Award-winning buildings are innovators and mould-breakers – congratulations to every client, architect and construction team for their combined talent and tenacity.”

The 2019 RIBA National Award winners are:

168 Upper Street (London, N1) by Groupwork
4 Pancras Square (London, W1) by Eric Parry Architects
Alexandra Palace (London, N22) by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Battersea Arts Centre (London, SW11) by Haworth Tompkins
The Beecroft Building, University of Oxford by HawkinsBrown
Brentford Lock West Keelson Gardens (London, TW8) by Mæ with White Ink Architects
Bristol Old Vic by Haworth Tompkins
Coal Drops Yard (London, N1C) by Heatherwick Studio with BAM Design
Collective on Calton Hill (Edinburgh, Scotland) by Collective Architecture
Colin Connect Transport Hub and Colin Town Square (Belfast, Northern Ireland) by Hall McKnight
Cork House (Berkshire) by MPH Architects
The Dorothy Garrod Building, Newnham College (Cambridge) by Walters & Cohen Architects
Eddington, Lot 1, North West Cambridge by WilkinsonEyre with Mole Architects
Eddington Masterplan, Cambridge by AECOM
Eleanor Palmer Science Lab (London, NW5) by AY Architects
Goldsmith Street (Norwich) by Mikhail Riches
Great Arthur House (London, EC1Y) by John Robertson Architects
Hackney Wick Station (London) by Landolt + Brown
Hampshire House by Niall McLaughlin Architects
Hill House Passivhaus (East Sussex) by Meloy Architects
House Lessans (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) by McGonigle McGrath
Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge) by Jamie Fobert Architects
Kingswood Preparatory School and Nursery (Bath) by Stonewood Design
LAMDA (London, W14) by Niall McLaughlin Architects
London Bridge Station by Grimshaw
The Macallan Distillery (Aberlour, Scotland) by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Mackintosh at the Willow (Glasgow, Scotland) by Simpson & Brown
Mapleton Crescent (London, SW18) by Metropolitan Workshop
Marmalade Lane Cohousing (Cambridge) by Mole Architects
Merano (London, SE1) by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners with EPR
Music School, King’s College School Wimbledon (London, SW19) by Hopkins Architects
Nevill Holt Opera (Leicestershire) by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
Nithurst Farm (West Sussex) by Adam Richards Architects
North West Cambridge Utility Buildings by Robin Lee Architecture
Ordsall Chord (Manchester) by BDP
The Painted Hall (London, SE10) by Hugh Broughton Architects with Martin Ashley Architects
Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre (Cambridge) by Haworth Tompkins
Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery (London, W5) by Jestico + Whiles with Julian Harrap Architects
Preston Bus Station Refurbishment by John Puttick Associates with Cassidy+Ashton
The Queens Diamond Jubilee Galleries (London, SW1) by MUMA LLP
A Restorative Rural Retreat for Sartfell (Isle of Man) by Foster Lomas
Royal Opera House Open Up (London, WC2E) by Stanton Williams
Secular Retreat (Devon) by Atelier Peter Zumthor with Mole Architects
Sevenoaks School Science and Technology Centre and Global Study Centre by Tim Ronalds Architects
Signal Townhouses (London, SE1) by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Simon Sainsbury Centre, Cambridge Judge Business School (Cambridge) by Stanton Williams
Southbank Centre (London, SE1) by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with Archer Humphryes Architects
South London Gallery Fire Station (London, SE15) by 6a Architects
Teaching and Learning Building, University of Nottingham by Make Architects
Television Centre (London, W12) by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris with MacCreanor Lavington, Morris+Company, dRMM, Mikhail Riches, Piercy+Co, Haptic, Archer Humphreys and Coffey Architects
V&A Dundee by Kengo Kuma & Associates with PiM.studio Architects and James F Stephen Architects
Westminster Abbey Triforium Project (London, SW1) by Ptolemy Dean Architects
The Weston, Yorkshire Sculpture Park by Feilden Fowles Architects
Writ in Water (Runnymede, Surrey) by Studio Octopi

Source: https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/riba-announces-2019-national-award-winners