At a ceremony held in Liverpool last night, six new — and very different — buildings were announced as RIBA North West Regional Award winners…

The prize, which aims to award architectural excellence in the region, went to just six out of 33 buildings entered into the competition:

• Enterprise South Liverpool Academy by BDP Architects;
• Everyman Theatre, Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins;
• Liverpool Central Library by Austin-Smith: Lord LLP;
• Manchester School of Art by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios;
• Number One Riverside, Rochdale by FaulknerBrowns Architects;
• and Trafford Town Hall by 5plus Architects.

Enterprise South Liverpool Academy and BDP took away the additional awards of Client of the Year and Architect of the Year for their ”inspirational” school design. 5plus won both Emerging Architect of the Year and the Sustainability Award for their work on Trafford’s cleaner and more energy efficient Town Hall. Austin-Smith: Lord LLP won the Conservation Award for their careful handling of the Central Library restoration. The coveted Building of the Year Award went to the Everyman Theatre.

Executive Director Deborah Aydon had this to say: “It really is fantastic. So much love has gone into creating the Everyman; to be recognised for its architectural skill, but also how much it’s loved, is really special. Since we opened at the beginning of March, people have been flooding through the building just to have a look around, see a show, or to have a drink and something to eat, and they’ve all instantly felt at home, and that’s the really special thing about our new building.”

One of the RIBA judges, a non-architect and self-confessed ‘layperson’, Jemima Pyne (Tate Liverpool) described an intense selection process of site visits and discussions. “They’re all good buildings; they all have different particularities, but they all seem to be doing something well. What was quite interesting was that when we were shown around, we were shown by the client and architect together. It’s not necessarily an easy relationship, and to see them togther once the building was finished, that was something all the winners certainly had in common — an active, positive relationship. They were both very happy with their buildings, and it was clearly a joint thing and they jointly owned it. It’s an indicator of how well that project has worked. They were united in a creative act.”

Andrew Ruffler, RIBA North West Regional Director commented: “Once again the North West has produced another crop of outstanding buildings, all of which demonstrate the value of a strong architect-client relationship. The jury had a tough job in choosing the RIBA NW Regional Award winners from a shortlist of very impressive buildings from across the region, but were in agreement that the six winners exhibited particular qualities that set them apart from the others.”

The six winners will now be considered for a RIBA National Award, announced June 2014. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later this year.