The Hepworth Wakefield is located in Yorkshire and designed by David Chipperfield Architects. The odds are stacked in this buildings favor to win, given this is the firm's eighth time being shortlisted for the prize. The firm won in 2007 for the Museum of Modern Literature located in Marbach, Germany.
Inside this trapezoidal building, the rooms flow together, immitating the river that runs just outside the walls, helping to heat and cool the gallery.
The people at the Royal Institute of British Architects describe the building's concrete exterior as "dusky mauve." The hue helps to soften the structure's harsh angles, allowing the building to appear both natural and random at the same time.
In playing to the theatre's domestic surroundings, Dublin-based firm O'Donnell Tuomey chose to use the distinctive red 'Belfast brick' both on the interior and exterior of the Lyric Theatre. The theatre is one of the few public buildings nestled on a street tightly-knit houses.
Large glass windows show off the river just outside the theatre. The architects had to work around both the river and the site's steep gradient.
This auditorium shied away from symmetrical seating and instead twisted it 'like the crease of a hand.' The unorthodox seating pattern gives the audience a renewed perspective and enhances acoustics.
Rem Koolhaas's first of two buildings on this year's shortlist is Maggie's Centre located in Gartnavel, Glasgow. The building, a cancer center, is shaped like a doughnut with a courtyard in the middle.
The lush, green setting offers patients peaceful views from every angle.
Despite all the glass, there are several options for patients seeking privacy, such as closed-off counseling rooms and secluded nooks for alone time.
The new headquarters pays homage to its holy neighbors by opening up sight lines to the church. Passerby can now take in views of the nearby St Stephen Walbrook church when strolling through the covered entrace square.
The Rothschild's Bank, now standing 15-stories high, has undergone multiple remodels since it was first erected in 1809. The newest building, designed by Rem Koolhaas's firm OMA, is a glass and steel structure.
Despite trying to remain anonymous, it's no secret that the Rothschild family donates pieces of its extensive art collection to museusms on occasion. Some of that art is reflected in the New Court redesign, which is part office and part museum.
The Sainsbury Laboratory by Stanton Williams is a botanic research center for the University of Cambridge set within a botanical garden.
The building is shaped like an "L" to offer scientests views of the outside while working within the sterile laboratory setting.
Photovoltair panels and extensive natural lighting helped the high-energy laboratory a BREEAM excellent rating.
