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The award of the Stirling prize to Zaha Hadid鈥檚 拢36.5m Evelyn Grace Academy in London has been branded 鈥減olitically dumb鈥� by a former RIBA president.

George Ferguson, who led the RIBA from 2003-5, said he was 鈥渁ngry鈥� at the decision to award the prize to a school for the first time, at a time when spending on school architecture has come under heavy fire from the Conservative-led government.

At 拢3,300/m2, the Evelyn Grace Academy is almost 40% more expensive per m² than the average cost of a secondary school (拢2,050/m²), according to research by the James Review.
Ferguson said: 鈥淸The project] shows you can build a very good school with a lot of money, which is not very politically astute at the moment.鈥�

The former Stirling prize chair accused the judges of 鈥渟tar worshipping鈥� and called for the judging process to be 鈥渂roadened out鈥�. He also accused the judges of 鈥渁rrogance鈥� and of ignoring public opinion, after Hadid鈥檚 project trumped long-standing bookies鈥� favourite, Hopkins Architects鈥� velodrome.

He added he believed the winning scheme was the worst for a decade, when Wilkinson Eyre鈥檚 Magna Centre in Rotherham won the award - which was also the venue for this year鈥檚 award ceremony.

Robin Nicholson, a senior partner at Edward Cullinan Architects and a former Cabe commissioner, also questioned the RIBA鈥檚 judgment. 鈥淎s a profession we have got to do a lot more with less, so to honour such an expensive school at this time is a strange decision.鈥�

But some architects welcomed the decision and claimed it was right for the RIBA to promote school architecture.

Ken Shuttleworth, founder of Make, said: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a great decision and great at a time when Gove is attacking schools.鈥�

Paul Monaghan, a partner in AHMM, the practice behind the 2008 Stirling prize-shortlisted Westminster Academy, rejected the suggestion the judges had allowed politics to influence
their decision. He said: 鈥淚鈥檓 familiar with the processes and I鈥檓 sure there鈥檒l be no political pressure. I鈥檓 pleased a school鈥檚 won the Stirling prize - this amplifies the message that school design is important.鈥�

The RIBA鈥檚 head of awards, Tony Chapman, said: 鈥淭he Stirling judges all agreed that the Evelyn Grace Academy had done most for the evolution of British architecture and the built environment in 2011. It certainly did not win for political reasons - unless it is political to say that kids deserve the best.鈥�