News
Kingston Townhouse awarded EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture
27 Apr 2022To add to the success of winning the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize, The Kingston University Town House has been awarded the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture – ‘Mies van der Rohe Award’, the highest accolade in European architecture. The Award website identifies that:
This is the first time that a university building wins the architecture prize, and it shows the potential of public educational projects with the quality of this one, which dignifies people’s lives through education and togetherness and gives equal educational possibilities to everybody.
EUmies Awards
Kingston University wanted to create a building that reflected the importance of its civic role within Kingston upon Thames and blurred the boundaries between the Town and Gown. The six storey Town House designed by Grafton Architects exceeds this brief and creates a public building that encourages people to move in and around it and enjoy the views across London from terraces and walkways throughout the building. Within the building the spaces incorporate quiet and noisy study through the provision of a library and individual learning areas as well as a theatre and dance studios.
The planning application inputs included planning, heritage and townscape and visual impact from Team Lichfields.
The building has a public café and people are free to explore the building. Well worth a visit if you are in Kingston.
The building has a public café and people are free to explore the building. Well worth a visit if you are in Kingston.
Image credit: Dennis Gilbert