The shortlist for RIBA’s coveted Stirling Prize includes two Irish contenders

The list announced at the RIBA National and International Awards includes ‘The Sleeping Giant,’ located in Co. Dublin, designed by architects O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects.

The project was also the winner in the Building Category and Overall Award at the Irish Concrete Society Awards earlier this year

The new bridge traversing the Shannon at the University of Limerick, designed by London based architects Wilkinson Eyre Architects was also shortlisted.

The bridge was completed at a cost of €12m last November and part of its uniqueness is its deck width which fluctuates along the length of the bridge to allow for resting places or public art displays.

The Irish contenders will be up against stiff competition from UK and international designers including David Chipperfield and Grimshaw, who are also on the Stirling shortlist as well as Allies & Morrison, Reiach & Hall, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

The final shortlist for the £20,000 Stirling Prize will be announced on July 17, with the winner announced on October 11 2008.

Among the other prize winners at the RIBA awards included Zaha Hadid and David Chipperfield, as well as Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for its Terminal 5 design at Heathrow Airport.

London designer Gianni Botsford claimed the Lubetkin Prize for a private house development in Cahuita, Costa Rica.

The project, Casa Kike, comprises two buildings built on 1.2m piles of termite-proof hard wood. Two pavilions are linked by a raised walkway while the structure inside incorporates bookcases for some 17,000 titles.

Sunand Prasad, president of the RIBA, said: “My congratulations to Gianni Botsford, whose house for his father, shows that sometimes the best architecture can be small in scale but big in architectural ambition.

All the shortlisted schemes show how innovative and inventive RIBA members’ work can be on an international stage.”

The RIBA Client of the Year 2008 winner went to Coin Street Community Builders for projects including this year’s award winning Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre by Haworth Tompkins Architects and the Oxo Tower.