Smash hit

The WAF Awards will introduce a theatrical element to the process of evaluating and comparing buildings. The architects of each of the 256 shortlisted projects will present their work in front of a live audience and a jury headed by Lord Foster, who designed the Swiss Re building (the “Gherkin”) in London and Beijing airport, the largest single building on earth. Other members of the international judging panel include Hadid and the British architects Will Alsop, Charles Jencks and Richard Burdett.

The winners from each of the main categories will then compete for a “best in show” prize: the Prix de Barcelona. Mr Finch said: “There’s a certain point where the type of building becomes irrelevant, where it is possible to compare apples and pears, a bit like they do at the Oscars or Crufts. The difference is that the owners at Crufts didn’t design the dogs.”

Top Ten designs

Broad Leys An Arts and Crafts building overlooking Windermere. Designed by CFA Voysey

Finsbury Health Centre Modernist 1930s building for one of the poorest parts of London. Designed by Berthold Lubetkin

Elephant Room, Forge Cottage 1930s building designed for Gerald Barry, who became Director of the Festival of Britain. Designed by FRS Yorke

Brynmawr Rubber Factory 1940s building designed by Architects’ Copartnership

Stockwell Bus Garage Designed by Adie Button & Partners

Rare Books Library, Newnham College, Cambridge Designed by Van Heyningham

Housing in West Hill, Highgate Self-build houses. Designed by Walter Segal

TVAM studios, Hawley Crescent, Camden 1980s television studios. Designed by Sir Terry Farrell

The Oratory, Boarbank Hall Convent of Augustinian Sisters in Grange over Sands designed in the 1980s to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the conversion of St Augustine. Designed by Benson + Forsyth

Lavatories (pictured above) and flower kiosk 1990s Westbourne Grove, London, developments. Designed by Piers Gough

Source: The Architectural Review

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