Award-winning poet, novelist and artist Ben Okri has been announced as the presenter of this year’s Building Beauty Awards.
The awards have also announced its final judging panel. Chaired by one of Britain’s foremost design critics, Stephen Bayley Hon FRIBA, the panel will include architectural commentator Paul Finch OBE, founding principal of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Architects; Alex Lifschutz, BAFTA award-winning artist, photographer and filmmaker; Alison Jackson, co-founder of the interdisciplinary engineering practice AKT II; Professor Hanif Kara OBE; and acclaimed postmodern architect Piers Gough CBE RA.
Entries close soon
Launched by The Royal Fine Art Commission Trust in 2022, the Building Beauty Awards celebrate buildings, engineering structures and urban landscaping schemes that add beauty to the environment. Everyone from architects to members of the public is welcome to submit an entry free of charge at www.buildingbeautyawards.com. The deadline for entries is 15 May 2023.
Last year’s Overall winner was Tintagel Castle footbridge in Cornwall. Designed by Ney & Partners and William Matthews Associates for English Heritage, the 225ft-span steel bridge provides level access to Tintagel Castle, comprising two cantilevers with a gap in the middle to allow for expansion. A footway of slate quarried locally from Delabole, with handrails in oak and stainless steel balustrades are designed to be fine enough to disappear against the sky when viewed from a distance.
This was a challenging assignment, given the terrain and the sensitivity of the site as both an ancient monument and a place of natural beauty.
