Centre at historic site wins award

The £3.7m Sutton Hoo Visitor's Centre was praised by the RIBA judges

The visitor's centre for the Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon burial site in Suffolk is one of eight buildings in the east of England to win awards in a major architecture competition.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Awards rewarded architects in Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk for design excellence and contribution to the local environment.

The £3.7m Sutton Hoo Visitor's Centre, which is sited near Woodbridge, was praised by the RIBA judges for its "high quality" design which preserves the "serenity of the burial ground".

Another winning design was the £12m Ercol Factory at Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire.

It was described by the judges as an "enormously enjoyable and practicable building which has helped develop a closer sense of community between factory and office workers".

RIBA awards for east of England

The Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge - Edward Cullinan Architects

Lowestoft Waste Water Works, Suffolk - Barber Casanovas Ruffles

The Pavilion, New Maltings, Nayland, Suffolk - Knox Bhavan Architects

Postgraduate Housing, Churchill College, Cambridge - Cottrell & Vermeulen

Shanks Millennium Bridge, Peterborough - Whitbybird Bridges Team

Sutton Hoo Visitor Centre, Woodbridge, Suffolk - van Heyningen and Haward Architects

House in Victoria Street, Cambridge - 5th Studio Ltd

Ercol Factory, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire - Horden Cherry Lee Architects

A record 70 buildings across Britain and Europe were given awards in this year's RIBA competition.

Paul Finch, deputy chairman of the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE) and editorial director of the Architects' Journal, said: "The past year has seen an exceptionally high level of quality of entry for these awards.

"This is most welcome and continuing evidence of improved standards which the RIBA awards promote."

Eligible buildings were designed by an RIBA member architects and completed between January 1, 2000 and March 14, 2003.

The architects behind three landmarks in Suffolk have won awards for their design excellence and contribution to the local environment.