Construction BUSINESS

The Grafton Architects-designed Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Lima, Peru, won the first ever Royal Institute of British Architects International prize on Thursday, November 24.

The selection follows a rigorous judging process which saw the RIBA awards committee travel to 30 buildings before shortlisting six buildings to be visited again in November. The prize was judged by a grand jury of experts chaired by world-renowned architect, Lord Richard Rogers of Riverside.

UTEC is an inspirational new building in the Barranco district of Lima was erected in collaboration with local partners, Shell Arquitectos, to provide new campus building for Lima’s specialist engineering university.

“UTEC is an exceptional example of civil architecture – a building designed with people at its heart,” the RIBA jury said. “UTEC is an exceptional example of civil architecture – a building designed with people at its heart. Grafton Architects have created a new way to think about a university campus, with a distinctive ‘vertical campus’ structure responding to the temperate climatic conditions and referencing Peru’s terrain and heritage.

“Sitting on the border of two residential districts in Lima, in section UTEC perches tantalizingly on the edge of a ravine. Seen from across the ravine it is as bold and as pure a statement of the symbiosis between architecture and engineering as could be imagined; a piece of geology imposed on its pivotal site, mirroring the organic curve of the landscape and accommodating itself in the city. To its close neighbours, it is a series of landscaped terraces with clefts, overhangs and grottos, a modern-day Machu Picchu.”