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Accolades for NI architecture
Awards for architectural excellence were given to the teams behind Downe Hospital, Downpatrick, Kevin Kahan Salon, Bangor and Belfast's St Malachy's Church. The projects now join 99 others in the running for the £20,000 prize.RIBA President Ruth Reed said the awards were "for buildings that offer value to people's lives".
"In the midst of the deepest recession in the 45-year history of the RIBA Awards, this year's winners demonstrate that although times might be hard for architects, there are still great buildings being built throughout the country and overseas," she said.
St Malachy's Catholic Church, located in Alfred Street near Belfast city centre has been nominated, following 15 months of renovations.
RIBA said it was "a delightful early-Victorian church characterised by its robust brick exterior with toy-Gothic turrets, and an elaborately-plastered interior which has been formed around a very unusual, but intimate congregational organisation on two levels.
It said architects Consarc Conservation had managed to modernise the building with disabled access, improved heating and appropriate artificial lighting without detracting from its original character.