Six buildings up for UK architecture prize

SIX buildings have been shortlisted for a prestigious architecture prize in Britain, including a tower block, a castle and a chapel.

A REVAMPED 1960s tower block, a home built in the ruins of a 12th century castle and a chapel for an order of nuns are in the running for Britain's best known architecture prize.

They feature on the shortlist of six for the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize which celebrates the year's most exceptional buildings and for the first time in the contest's 18-year history, half the practices have women at the helm.

Also competing for the 2013 award are a new visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway, an estate of new homes in Essex and a new medical school building.

Bookmaker William Hill says Bishop Edward King Chapel in Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, is the favourite to win the prize.

The STG2 million ($A3.30 million) building, finished earlier this year, was built for Ripon College and an order of nuns, the Community of St John the Baptist, and it features a series of high windows which flood it with natural light. Judges said that it "fulfils its complex brief with a lyrical grace".

Also on the list is the once despised Park Hill tower block complex in Sheffield, which has been given a contemporary refit. The half-century old "brutalist" concrete estate was given Grade II listing in 1997 but for many in the city it had long been an unloved eyesore until it was given an overhaul, which included preserving a notable piece of graffiti in neon lights, reading "I love you will u marry me".

A more contemporary housing project on the shortlist is Newhall Be in Harlow, Essex, a STG12 million group of 84 new homes which judges believe "raises the bar for suburban housing developments".

Others in the running are the University of Limerick Medical School, the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre in Northern Ireland and Astley Castle in Warwickshire - a Landmark Trust holiday home which has been created in the ruined walls of a 12th century manor.

The winner will be announced on September 26 at Central Saint Martins, King's Cross.