Oslo Opera House / SNØHETTA

Oslo Opera House in Norway, designed by Norwegian practice SNØHETTA, has been named winner in the Culture category at the prestigious World Architecture Festival Awards (WAF Awards) 2008.

The WAF Awards are taking place at the Centre Convencions International Barcelona (CCIB) during the inaugural World Architecture Festival in Barcelona between 22nd and 24th October. The biggest architectural awards programme in the world, the WAF Awards are designed to celebrate the work, concerns and aspirations of the international architectural community.

Helene Binet

Oslo Opera House was selected by a panel of some the world’s most distinguished architects, and renowned industry experts, including Sir Peter Cook. It triumphed over fierce competition from a shortlist of 16 entries and was awarded the prize for its highly proficient architecture that realised a complex programme with coherence and clarity.

The judges said: “Oslo Opera House, the anchor project in an urban regeneration scheme, has already proved highly popular with its local community. The building in its scale, ambition and quality has raised the bar for Norwegian architecture.”

Helene Binet

Speaking at the WAF Awards Paul Finch, WAF programme director and editor of Architectural Review, said: “We have seen a huge response to the Awards, which recognise and celebrate international excellence. The quantity and quality of the entries provides a real showcase of global architecture and highlights how architects change the way we think about buildings. Our congratulations go to SNØHETTA for Oslo Opera House which thoroughly deserves this accolade.”

The Oslo Opera House will now go forward to compete against 16 other category winners to win the ultimate ‘best in show’ prize, the title of World Building of the Year. The winner will be announced by Lord Foster at an Awards ceremony in Barcelona on 24th October 2008.