Leisure projects have missed out on the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize 2011 after London's Evelyn Grace Academy picked up this year's accolade.

The Zaha Hadid Architects-designed secondary school in Brixton held off competition from the Hopkins-designed London 2012 Velodrome to secure the award.

Among the academy's design features is the inclusion of a 100m running track in the centre of the site, which takes right up to the front door.

Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany (David Chipperfield Architects) and Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres (Bennetts Associates) were also shortlisted.

Zaha Hadid Architects has secured the Stirling Prize for the second successive year, after the practice won last year's award for the MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome, Italy.

RIBA's Stirling Prize aims to celebrate the best European buildings built or designed in the UK. Other 2011 shortlisted schemes were The Angel Building, (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris) and O'Donnell and Tuomey's An Gaelaras in Derry, Northern Ireland.

The Royal Shakespeare Company won the 2011 RIBA Client of the Year, which recognises the role played by "good clients" in the delivery of high quality architecture.

Details: www.architecture.com

Image: The Evelyn Grace Academy - Hufton and Crow