The first winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize – the University of Salford’s Centenary Building – is set to be demolished.
Designed by Hodder Associates, the building won the inaugural prize in 1996, but has been vacant for eight years.
Boasting then-groundbreaking natural ventilation and underfloor heating, the Stirling judges praised the decision not to use air conditioning. However, occupants of the building complained that it was too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.
A post-occupancy survey of staff working in the building, carried out by Manchester University in 1998 and seen by CIBSE Journal, showed that it received a ‘very poor’ score of -19%. This is at the bottom of the range for most buildings, and key factors in this score were temperature, and control of heating and ventilation.
‘While the Centenary Building has been part of the university estate for decades, its infrastructure no longer meets modern standards and requirements. It has now been vacant for a third of its built life,’ said a university spokesperson.
The building is proposed for demolition as part of Salford City Council’s masterplan to redevelop the area. But its architect, Stephen Hodder, has called for it to be adapted rather than demolished. The Twentieth Century Society has also submitted an application for the building to be listed, in a bid to stop it being demolished.
