The Stirling Prize is awarded every year to the United Kingdom’s best new building. They usually end up on Treehugger because lately, they have been such interesting “green” buildings. In 2019 the winner was Mikhail Riches’ Goldsmith Street, described as a “modest masterpiece” and perhaps the best example yet of how to do Passivhaus on a budget. In 2018 it was Bloomberg’s London headquarters, described by many as the world’s most sustainable office building, although I said it’s not. But nonetheless, the Stirling Prize was definitely on a roll when it came to sustainable design. Or maybe after a year off, they have been there, done that.

There is no question that the student “Town House” at Kingston University, designed by Grafton Architects, is a lovely building. Lord Norman Foster, who was chair of the jury, describes it:

It is an unusual mashup of different uses. The University vice-chancellor explains:

The press release does note that “light and air to flow naturally through the building, which also uses a thermally-activated concrete frame to reduce operational energy use.” They do not explain what they mean by “thermally activated,” it could be many things, but the jury report gives a bit more detail about the building’s environmental cred:

It is an important building, designed by a firm led by two women that have been cleaning up Pritzkers and other awards late. As the jurors note:

But many share reservations about whether a building like this should be taking the top architecture prize in the country. Treehugger favorite Elrond Burrell wonders if this had something to do with the head of the jury.

Gerard Carty of Grafton Architects addressed the question of concrete in an interview with the Architects Journal, noting the project started in 2013 when embodied carbon was not such a concern as it is now and that they did their best.

They may have been reading the recent report we covered on the future of concrete:

It is a difficult call. A few years ago, the Royal Institute of British Architects, which gives out the Stirling, announced that they were going to change the rules, with the Chair of the awards group saying:

However, noting that buildings take a long time to get designed and built, the new tougher rules don’t kick in until 2022. So the Kingston University Town House may be the last of its kind to get a Stirling.