the shortlist for the 2014 RIBA stirling prize has been announced, with six new buildings competing for the most prestigious award in british architecture and one of them being Birmingham's new library. The projects will be judged in terms of their design excellence and their contribution to the evolution of the built environment.

A common theme throughout the designs is a focus on transformative public structures, intrinsically linked to their respective communities, and offering a sense of optimism in the wake of recent financial turbulence. The winner of the 2014 RIBA stirling prize will be announced on the evening of thursday 16 october at the royal institute of british architects (RIBA) in london. the judges, who will visit the six buildings and select the winner are:spencer de grey – chair (foster and partners), MJ long (long and kentish architects), cindy walters (walters and cohen),stephen kieran (kieran timberlake) and sir timothy sainsbury.

Fingers crossed for Brum town. Would be a privilege for the city. Check out all of the nominees below

library of birmingham by mecanoo

everyman theatre, liverpool by haworth tompkins

london aquatics centre by zaha hadid architects

london bridge tower (the shard) by renzo piano building workshop 

london school of economics – saw swee hock student centre by o’donnell + tuomey architects

manchester school of art by feilden clegg bradley studios