In July 2015, the Blavatnik School of Government was included in the shortlist for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize - one of the most prestigious prizes in the architecture world. The winner of the Stirling Prize will be revealed next Thursday night, but in the meantime there is a way for the public to get involved.
Ahead of the official ceremony, the BBC is running a public vote to find out the public’s favourite building, and the Blavatnik School of Government is calling on its students, alumni, supporters and the public to vote.
VOTE FOR THE BLAVATNIK SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT
The online vote is only open for one week, from today (30 September) until next Wednesday (5 October) and the winner of the ‘people’s vote’ will be announced at midday Thursday 6 October.
The building was designed by architects Herzog & De Meuron to support the School’s mission of improving government around the world, bringing people together in an inspiring and open space. You can hear more about how the design fits the purpose of the School from our Dean, Professor Ngaire Woods and from Senior Partner at Herzog & de Meuron, Ascan Mergetghaler in the short film that the BBC has produced for the voting.
WATCH THE BBC'S SHORT FILM OF THE BLAVATNIK SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT AND VOTE
The Blavatnik School of Government building was officially opened in May 2016 by HRH the Duke of Cambridge, but has been operative since the end of 2015. The School has a rich programme of lectures and events open to the public and we have hosted an impressive array of guests speakers so far, including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and many more. The building has also opened its doors to welcome the Oxford community and beyond, and was the most popular attraction during the recent Oxford Open Doors weekend. We are planning regular openings throughout the year to supplement access opportunities.
Calum Miller, Chief Operating Officer of the Blavatnik School of Government, said: “We are very lucky to work in this brilliantly-designed and inspiring building, which so closely reflects our values of openness and collaboration. We are honoured to be in the company of such impressive projects on the Stirling Prize shortlist – and delighted that the University has two shortlisted projects.”
Our beautiful new home has also been hailed as a great addition to Oxford by a wide majority of architecture and design critics, as well as being recognised by the engineering and sustainability sectors. We have been awarded RIBA National Award 2016, RIBA South Client of the Year 2016, RIBA South Award 2016. The building has been certified BREEAM Excellent and has also won 'Best Use of Civil Engineering in a Building Project in South East England' by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
For the first time ever, the University of Oxford is responsible for two of the six projects included in the shortlist: the Bodleian’s Weston Library is the other. The remaining four buildings shortlisted are: City of Glasgow College (Riverside Campus); Newport Street Gallery, Vauxhaull, London; Outhouse, Gloucestershire and Trafalgar Place, Elephant & Castle, London.
