Lewis Glucksman Gallery

The Lewis Glucksman Gallery at UCC is among the short-listed buildings for a top architecture award, it was announced today. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have placed the building in the shortlist of six finalists for the Stirling Prize. The bookmakers William Hill have issued odds for the six finalists with O'Donnell & Tuomey's building at 7-2. According to the judges, "The more one looks, the better it gets. That is the sign of complete assurance and maturity." It has already won Best Public Building 2005 from the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, a RIBA 2005 award in the European category and the 2005 Project of the Year prize in the British Buildings Services Awards.

Selecting from a wide variety of buildings will be a challenge for the jury, says Jeremy Till, chair of the RIBA Awards Group. "It'll be no easy task," said Till. "We have a national parliament building competing with a children's centre, a library with a factory for making cars, and yet they all share one quality: true architectural excellence."

Till added: "Every one of these short-listed buildings would be a worthy winner - they're popular not just with critics, but with the public as well. They stimulate. They're full of new ideas, and new approaches."

Also on the list (Their odds with William Hill for winning the prize in brackets):
BMW Central Building; Leipzig, Germany - Zaha Hadid Architects (5-1)
The Scottish parliament, Edinburgh - Enric Miralles and RMJM (5-1)
McLaren Technology Centre; Woking, Surrey - Foster and Partners (5-2)
Jubilee Library; Brighton, Sussex - Bennetts Associates with Lomax Cassidy + Edwards (5-2)
Fawood Children's Centre; Harlesden, London - Alsop Design Ltd (7-1)

The judges who include writer and broadcaster Joan Bakewell and architect and broadcaster Piers Gough will visit all the buildings before picking the winner. They will then meet for a final time on 15 October, the day of the presentation, to pick the winner. The award will be announced live to a national television audience from the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The RIBA Stirling Prize is considered the UK's most prestigious architectural prize. It is named after the Scots-born architect Sir James Stirling. A £20,000 prize is awarded to the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year.