I am always interested in the winners (and entries) for the RIBA Stirling prize. This year there were some quite spectacular entries – and everyone thought Foster would win with his Velodrome for the Olympics.

But the winner, announced last night, was Zaha Hadid for the Evelyn Grace Academy Brixton. It’s an Academy school which was rebuilt for £37m – specialising in maths and sports. It looks amazing – with a running track running right through the building. Then the football pitch is overlooked by much of the building. It looked like an arena.

What I really liked about the building was the ‘grown-up’ feel about it. It wasn’t all bright colours and simple features. It looks like business. The school is in a challenging part of the UK – and with luck this new building is starting to change attitudes. This is what good architecture does. It changes how people behave.

The other thing here is that this building has been constructed in challenging times. Too many of my College clients missed out on money from the now disbanded Learning & Skills Council. This school managed to get the cash (as a number of Academies did). It is great to see good buildings being built in the education sector.

Good buildings for people learning can only be a good thing for life. If we get people enthused about architecture at an early stage (even if they don’t realise) then we might get more better buildings up in the future. There is a proven link between good design and performance. But we are also teaching people in these brilliant buildings who will be the future workforce. They will want / demand good buildings to work and play in.

When we raise the game, in the long run, the game just gets better?