Shortlist of award for repurposed buildings rather than new-builds includes Wolverhampton School of Architecture and Museum of the Home in London
The Riba Stirling Prize for flamboyant new architecture faces a humble challenger – the Reinvention award for the transformation of second-hand buildings. The Royal Institute of British Architects has created the new prize to encourage architects to pour their creativity into refurbishing existing buildings, rather than demolishing them in favour of new-build.
If developers replace an existing building with a new one, vast amounts of CO2 are created to make the bricks, cement and steel for the replacement. If instead they can reshape the interior of the existing building while keeping the shell intact, emissions are greatly reduced.
