The Faith Museum in Bishop Auckland, for the Auckland Project, stands at the entrance to Auckland Palace, until recently the residence of the Bishops of Durham.It was chosen from four category winners also including Lynch Architects, Grimshaw and Daewha Kang Design, which were competing for the top prize.Held last Thursday (21 November) in central London, the awards were the third run by the Royal Fine Arts Commission Trust in celebration of buildings, engineering structures and urban landscaping schemes that add beauty to Britains built environment.AdvertisementThe Duke of Gloucester presented the award after the Royal Fine Arts Commission Trust pre-announced earlier this month the individual category winners from which the overall victor was chosen.The four practices won in the categories Building, Little Gem, Public Space and Engineering.Former Stirling Prize-winner Nall McLaughlin with Purcell was the winner in the Building category for the Faith Museum, which completed in 2019 and received an RIBA National award earlier in the year.Winning in the Little Gem category, meanwhile, was Lynch Architects addition to Westminster Coroners Court, which opened this summer and was recently featured in the AJ.The AJ understands that the 12,000 cash prize on offer to winners in 2022 and 2023, which was not on offer this year, was funded by developer Ballymore's sponsorship of the awards. The two-year deal has now ended. The cash prize was the biggest in UK architecture.AdvertisementThe Building Beauty Awards were set up in 2021 to advocate for design excellence in architecture and the built environment. Former winners include Tintagel Castle in Cornwall by William Matthews and Laurent Ney for English Heritage (2022) and Bayside Apartments in Worthing, Sussex, by Allies and Morrison for Roffey Homes (2023).The awards were set up at the same time the Conservative government established an Office for Place to improve building design standards and aesthetics in homes and public spaces, and promote then housing secretary Michael Goves now-axed building beautiful agenda.2024 category winnersBuilding Faith Museum at Auckland Palace, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, by Nall McLaughlin ArchitectsLittle Gem Westminster Coroner's Court Extension, Horseferry Road, south London, by Lynch ArchitectsPublic Space The Grand Courtyard and Pavilion at the OWO, south London, by Daewha Kang DesignEngineeringHS2 Colne Valley Viaduct, South Buckinghamshire/Hillingdon, by ALIGN JV (Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McApline and Volkerfiitzpatrick) with Ingerop and Jacobs (engineers) and Grimshaw (architects)