Plans for Port Royal and the Sterling architecture prize: staying true to the history and roots of a building with a highly considered and creative project that brings to life a previously-unloved pocket of the town.

This year's nominations for the RIBA architecture prize include three buildings which are either in a conservation area, are a restoration project, or have been refurbished:
Futures Forum: Sterling architecture prize shortlist: restore and refurbish

Last year's prize went to a converted building:
New and old are bound together at Caruso St John’s Newport Street Gallery | Buildings | Architectural Review

The press latched onto the bete-noir of YBAs:
Damien Hirst gallery wins Riba Stirling Prize - BBC News





The point being that one can be creative with old buildings:
Futures Forum: Creative re-use at Port Royal: championing 'adaptation of original architecture to contemporary functions'
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: contemporary and vernacular

It's all about 'staying true to the history and roots of a building':

Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery wins 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize

Isabelle Fraser 6 OCTOBER 2016 

Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall, south London, has won the 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building. The 37,000 sq ft gallery is made up of almost an entire street of listed Victorian industrial buildings which had been carpentry and scenery painting workshops for West End theatres.

The building was conceived by architecture firm Caruso St John. The industrial buildings are bookended by new structures, one of which has a spiky saw-tooth roof.

The gallery faces onto a railway, which is greeted with a giant LED panel on the building's façade, encouraging commuters to visit. Entry to the gallery is free, and it holds some of Damien Hirst's private art collection of 3,000 works; it is currently showing an exhibition of Jeff Koons.

The president of RIBA, Jane Duncan, said that the building "exemplifies the best of UK architecture", adding that it was "a highly considered and creative project that brings to life a previously-unloved pocket of the city".

Damien Hirst said: "Newport Street Gallery has realized my ambition to create an unobtrusive and beautiful series of buildings that work perfectly as a space to exhibit great art. I wanted to stay true to the history and roots of the building and Caruso St John understood that from the start."

Peter St John, a partner Caruso St John Architects, said: “We see the building as a palace for direct, intimate and luxurious encounters with contemporary art, and we are very pleased that this award will bring more people to see this extraordinary collection.”
Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery wins 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize

With more photos here:
Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery by Caruso St John
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