The concrete and glass MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome by Zaha Hadid Architects, was this year’s winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize, but stone did get a look-in on the projects shortlisted for the Award, notably in the £61million redevelopment of the world famous Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The new building was designed by Rick Mather Architects and doubles the display area of the museum.

The stonework includes a central ‘cascading’ staircase in Portland basebed limestone from Albion Stone’s Jordans Quarry. The staircase is a focal part of the design. It is illuminated by natural light from above and gives visitors access to all six floors of the Museum. The staircase stone detail was designed by London stone contractors Putney & Wood, who also built it. They also did the large expanses of 1200x600mm stone flooring and an additional stone staircase at the other end of the Museum.

The Ashmolean was one of six projects on the Stirling Prize shortlist, and although it didn’t win, it did get 43% of the ‘public vote’, three times more than the winner. The second placed building got just 24% of the public vote.