Announced today, this year’s shortlist for the prestigious £20,000 prize encompasses a range of building types and scales – from a £1.6 million gridshell structure to a lavish £70 million headquarters building in the City of London.

Nominated are Wilkinson Eyre Architects for their £17.7 million Gateshead Millennium Bridge. The scheme, which has already won the Royal Fine Art Commission’s Building of the Year, is one of the strongest candidates.

Also nominated are: Edward Cullinan Architects’ £1.6 million Downland Gridshell at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum; Richard Rogers Partnership for their Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Also shortlisted are Malcolm Fraser’s £5 million Dance Base in Edinburgh; David Chipperfield’s £11.5 million Ernsting Service Centre in Coesfeld-Lette, Germany; Benson and Forsyth’s £10.7 million Millennium Wing for the National Gallery of Ireland; and BDP’s £6 million Hampden Gurney Primary School in London.

The final seven – along with the RIBA Special Awards revealed last week (AJ 5.9.02) – were selected from the list of 58 projects chosen for RIBA Awards in June. The final winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on 12 October at the Baltic in Gateshead to be broadcast live on Channel 4.