In pictures: RIBA National Awards

Library of Birmingham

The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has revealed the winners of its national awards for architectural excellence. The shortlist for the coveted Riba Stirling Prize will be drawn from these 56 winners, 44 of which are in the UK and the rest from other parts of the EU.

Some of the UK’s best known new buildings have won an award, including the Shard, designed by Renzo Piano.

A number of smaller scale projects, for example Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft formed from a village school and barn in Sussex by Adam Richards Architects, have also made this year's list.

The judges were also impressed by the sympathetic conservation and redesign of the Grade II listed Porthmeor Artists’ Studios in St Ives by Architects Long & Kentish.

Many of the those selected were public buildings, including the London Aquatics Centre.

Another public space is the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool.

The new Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth sits beside HMS Victory and was described as impressive. The exterior was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and the interior by Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will.

London studio Denizen Works oversaw the rebuilding of a cottage in the Outer Hebrides as well as adding two extensions which had an agricultural feel.

Denmark's national aquarium, Blue Planet, replaced the former building built in 1939.

Laser-cut stainless steel adorns the outside of the Kraaiennest Metro in Amsterdam.