While the U.K. still stands divided on the history-making Brexit, its members have at least come to a consensus on another national issue: the best architecture of 2016. Well, that is, if you count the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) short list of 46 “winners” a decision. The award recipients—commended for their contribution to the nation’s architectural landscape—range from an amorphous Yves Klein–blue drawing center in Poole, England, to the swooping Investcorp Building in Oxford by the late Zaha Hadid . Read on for our favorites among the winning bunch.
The gleaming stainless-steel façade of Zaha Hadid’s ski-slope-shaped Investcorp Building in Oxford reflects the passing clouds.
Crab Studio designed this amorphous blue drawing studio in Poole, the first of its kind to be built in a British art school for a century.
The firm Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’s 61 Oxford Street in London is wrapped in an undulating glass skin.
Living roofs add a shock of green to the façade of the Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, designed by BDP.
Herzog & de Meuron’s glass-paneled Blavatnik School of Government in Oxford resembles a UFO.
The exterior of London’s Regent High School by Walters & Cohen Architects is enlivened with panels of color.
This private home by James Gorst Architects in Northamptonshire, a contemporary take on a country house, is clad in ironstone.
This long, lean structure in Gloucester by Glenn Howells Architects is integrated into the landscape.
Designed by Hawkins/Brown, the L-shaped Bob Champion Research and Education Building in Norwich has a zigzagging roof and is clad in red cedar.
