Manchester Metropolitan University is delighted to host the 2019 RIBA North West Awards, celebrating the wealth of architectural talent within the region.

This year’s awards will be hosted in the Benzie Building, home to Manchester School of Art and Manchester School of Architecture – a previous winner of the coveted award in 2014.

The University’s Business School and the new Students’ Union building have also captured the prize in recent years.

Eleven buildings, including a bus station, hospital and charity headquarters, are shortlisted for the prize, which will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Wednesday. Full information on the shortlist can be found on the RIBA North West website.

We chose to host our Awards ceremony at the Benzie Building due to the close working relationship we have with Manchester School of Architecture and on account of the quality of this RIBA-Award winning space.

Regional Award winners are then considered for the RIBA National Award in recognition for their architectural excellence, which the Benzie Building also won in 2014.

Professor Tom Jefferies, Head of Manchester School of Architecture at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “We are delighted to host the 2019 RIBA North West Awards. Manchester School of Architecture enjoys close professional links with RIBA North West, which helps to inform our teaching and research, and our talent pipeline of alumni is represented in many of the practices which have been nominated for this year’s awards.”

Tom Mills, Interim Regional Director at RIBA North West, said: “We chose to host our Awards ceremony at the Benzie Building due to the close working relationship we have with Manchester School of Architecture and on account of the quality of this RIBA-Award winning space.

“The School continue to foster an excellent culture of architectural education and take great pains to provide an interface with the profession through its career days and in conjunction with RIBA North West, the Student Mentoring programme.”

RIBA North West represents 2500 chartered members and 250 chartered practices in the north west of England and is a region of the wider national/international RIBA.

It enjoys a strong relationship with Manchester School of Architecture through both formal and informal collaboration and partnership at multiple levels; from validation and involvement in the courses taught, to the School’s mentoring scheme where all second-year BA Architecture students are able to experience time in an office and be mentored by a RIBA Chartered Practice/Practitioner.

The School also has involvement in committees at international/national (RIBA), regional (RIBA North West) and branch levels (Manchester Society of Architects), influencing current and future policy in education and practice.