RIBA Stirling Prize 2022: who is the bookies’ favourite?

The west London scheme, built with engineered wood and specialist bricks created from construction waste, has been given odds of 3/1 to scoop the highest accolade in UK architecture next month.

Priced at 7/2, Panter Hudpsith’s Orchard Gardens scheme in Elephant and Castle is currently the bookie’s second favourite on the six-strong shortlist, which is dominated by London projects.

Hopkins Architects’ revamp of a 1980s office block on the Broadgate campus at Liverpool Street and Henley Halebrown’s Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road have both been given odds of 4/1 – as has the new timber-framed library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, by Níall McLaughlin Architects, which has three previous nominations for the coveted accolade, now in its 26th year.

According to William Hill, Forth Valley College, Falkirk Campus in Scotland, by Reiach and Hall Architects is the outsider to win the prize, with odds of 5/1.

Last year’s Stirling Prize went to Grafton Architects’ Kingston University Town House. The six-storey, multipurpose higher education building in south-west London had not been William Hill's favourite to win, with the scheme priced at at 5/1. Instead, it favoured Marks Barfield's Cambridge Central Mosque with odds of 7/4.

Announcing the 2022 finalists in July, RIBA president Simon Allford said all six gave ‘cause for optimism’ and offered innovative solutions in the face of the housing, energy and climate crises.

He said: ‘From major capital city regeneration programmes to new visions for higher education, they all share the ambition to deliver generous architecture fit for a low-carbon future.

‘All six buildings are informed by close consultation and collaboration with clients, contractors and the community. The result: outstanding and welcoming architecture that lifts the spirit of all who engage with it.'

The Stirling Prize finalists were chosen from the RIBA’s 29 national award winners.

The overall winner will be announced on Thursday 13 October 2022 at the RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London.

RIBA 2022 Stirling shortlist odds (14 September)

3/1 • Sands End Arts and Community Centre, London (by Mæ Architects): a welcoming, fully accessible single-storey building arranged around a disused lodge comprising flexible activity spaces and a community café.

7/2 • Orchard Gardens, Elephant Park, London (by Panter Hudspith Architects): a playful cluster of buildings forming a new city block of 228 new homes and retail spaces wrapped around a communal garden – a major element of Elephant and Castle’s regeneration programme.

4/1 • 100 Liverpool Street, London (by Hopkins Architects): a net zero development encompassing a dramatic renovation and extension of a 1980s office block to create a suite of offices and commercial and public spaces in the heart of London’s financial district.

4/1 • Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road, London (by Henley Halebrown): a striking red-brick complex that uniquely combines affordable housing with a new primary school for the growing east London community.

4/1 • The New Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge (by Níall McLaughlin Architects): an exquisitely detailed timber-framed library and study space, designed to replace that previously gifted by Samuel Pepys and projected to survive for another 400 years.

5/1 • Forth Valley College – Falkirk Campus, Scotland (by Reiach and Hall Architects): a set of three cutting-edge higher-education facilities connected by courtyards and open learning spaces.