Stirling Prize Winner Is Astley Castle

Described as an “exceptional example of how modern architecture can revive an ancient monument”, Astley Castle is this year’s winner of the  RIBA Stirling Prize For Architecture. RIBA president Stephen Hodder called it "a real labour of love".

Astley Castle has a new lease of life

In choosing the castle, the judges proved that there are occasions when the public and the professionals agree on something, because the castle had also been nominated by 27% of the members of the public who had voted in an on-line poll last Wednesday.

Entrants had to be  RIBA members, and the winning company was Witherford Watson Mann Architects,  beating off competition from a Stirling Prize shortlist that included the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre in Northern Ireland and Park Hill, a renovated 1960s estate in Sheffield.

Other contenders included Newhall Be - a suburban development in Harlow, Essex; the University of Limerick Medical Centre and Bishop Edward King Chapel.

Astley Castle is choc full of history, once being the home of the aristocratic Grey family. There are links to three queens of England and it gained Grade II listed status in 1951.

Having once been a  mediaeval manor, it became a Parliamentarian garrison during the English Civil War. Now re-invented as a quality holiday home, you will need patience if you want to stay there as it is already booked up for the next two years.

Before the firm started work on the 12th Century property, Astley Castle had been lying in ruins and was in a state of collapse, gutted by a 1978 fire.

"Rather than a conventional restoration project, the architects have designed an incredibly powerful contemporary house which is expertly and intricately intertwined with 800 years of history," said Mr Hodder.

He continued: "Every detail has been carefully considered, from a specific brick pattern to the exact angle of a view, resulting in a sensually rich experience for all who visit. It was realised in true collaboration between a visionary client, designer and contractors."

The Stirling Prize has celebrated its eighteenth birthday this year and is awarded to the best new building of the year, constructed in the European Union and designed in the UK.
2012's winner was the Sainsbury Laboratory, an £82m plant research centre at the University of Cambridge, which beat London's Olympic Stadium and Belfast's Lyric Theatre.

Mr Hodder said he was "delighted" to present the winning architects with the Stirling Prize trophy at a special ceremony at Central Saint Martins in London's King's Cross.

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