The Royal Institute of British Architects has named the 54 winners of its National Awards, celebrating the best buildings built in the UK this year – and Newnham is delighted that the Dorothy Garrod Building is among them. The building was previously named as ‘RIBA Building of the Year’ for the Eastern Region.
Presented since 1966, the RIBA National Awards is an annual architecture prize that celebrates the best buildings built in the UK.
2019’s winning projects span a wide range, from major public buildings to individual homes and housing projects, such as Cambridge housing co-op Marmalade Lane. This year has seen a particular focus on buildings that creatively update or sit alongside historic originals, most noticeably an addition to Westminster Abbey.
Newnham’s Dorothy Garrod Building responds to Newnham’s architectural heritage, and our beautiful range of buildings by Basil Champneys
The RIBA judges are discerning and well-informed: indeed, one of the RIBA Judges visiting Newnham was architect Dav Bansal, who has himself designed a building to sit along Champneys’ famous John Rylands Library. We are therefore extremely proud to have been honoured in this way.
Dame Carol Black, Principal of Newnham, was delighted, saying, “Receiving the national architectural award is fabulous news – a real tribute to the architects who gave us a wonderful new building at the heart of our college.”
However, the true test of a College building comes from the people who live within it. So perhaps the real award was when the JCR undergraduate committee selected the Dorothy Garrod Building as one of their highlights of 2019-19, naming “The fantastic new build/cafe/social space, which has hosted events from pub quizzes to jazz and poetry nights to the Women’s Campaign celebrations.”
Read more about the Dorothy Garrod Building, including an interview with architect Cindy Walters of Walters & Cohen, in the College magazine, Changing Lives.
Visitors wishing to see the Dorothy Garrod Building can visit the Porters’ Lodge, Iris Café and Café Courtyard between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. Access is via the Porters’ Lodge, Sidgwick Avenue.