Designed by Níall McLaughlin Architects, the Magdalene College Library was just selected as the winner of the 26th edition of the RIBA Stirling Prize. Selected from a pool of shortlisted projects, the outstanding new building replaces a library gifted to Magdalene by Samuel Pepys 300 years ago and provides the students of the University of Cambridge with a new space that includes an archive and an art gallery.
Located in Cambridge’s city center, the New Library for Magdalene College honors history with its materiality and generates well-designed environments that improve students’ efficiency and well-being. In fact, RIBA President Simon Allford, and member of the jury of the 2022 Stirling Prize explains that “as universities across the world work hard to position themselves in an ever-growing higher education marketplace, investment in great buildings is essential. This is an exemplary model to aspire to.”
An architecture built to last, the novel structure imagined by Níall McLaughlin Architects, combines “load-bearing brick, gabled pitched roofs, windows with tracery and brick chimneys” on the outside, while the interior spaces are filled with light and warm-wood finishes. Putting in place, calm areas, the project “contrasts openness with intimacy”, with layouts that create a range of spaces, from wide zones for reading rooms and group study, to narrow zones for staircases and bookcases.
A first for the Stirling Prize, the award has been granted to a college, “honoring the development of modern architectural culture in Britain”, as Níall McLaughlin states. True to the challenges of its time, the new library uses “simple but highly effective passive ventilation and natural lighting strategies to minimize energy in use, and materials such as engineered timber structure to reduce carbon embodied in its construction”.
The Magdalene College Library is a work of many hands and many minds. The College created the possibility for success in the way that they initiated and managed the project. The appointment of designers, consultants, builders, and craftsmen was treated with care. Throughout the development process, our team was supported and robustly questioned in our decisions. We knew we were building for a client who was motivated to achieve the best outcome. Our responsibility to the history and future development of this learning community was clear. We were asked to build for the long-term using present resources wisely. -- Níall McLaughlin
The New Library, Magdalene College was chosen by the jury from a selection of shortlisted projects that includes 100 Liverpool Street by Hopkins Architects, Forth Valley College – Falkirk Campus by Reiach and Hall Architects, Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown, Orchard Gardens, Elephant Park in London by Panter Hudspith Architects and Sands End Arts & Community Centre in London by Mæ. The jury of the 2022 edition of the Stirling Prize was composed of Simon Allford (RIBA President and Chair), architects Glenn Howells (Founder of Glenn Howells Architects) and Kirsten Lees (Managing Partner at Grimshaw), and artist Chris Ofili. The jury was advised by sustainability expert Smith Mordak (Director of Sustainability & Physics at Buro Happold).
