Carbuncle Cup shortlist names and shames Britain's worst architecture

Six buildings have been chosen for an award that highlights the worst examples of architecture in the UK. The Carbuncle Cup, run by Building Design , aims to draw attention to buildings constructed in the last 12 months that most offend the aesthetic sensibilities of passersby. Over 30 suggestions were received, but the list was whittled down to six and published to coincide with today's announcement of nominees for the 2010 Stirling Prize for architecture . Two London buildings feature in the shortlist, the first of which is Strata Tower in Elephant and Castle, the first skyscraper to have wind turbines built into its design. The building's design has divided critics and locals, earned the nickname the Electric Razor, and was recently described by the Guardian critic Jonathan Glancey as a "sleek silver sentinel" . The Georgian Group – which campaigns for Georgian-inspired architecture – described London's tallest residential building, at 147 metres, as "pure visual grotesqueness" when it submitted it for consideration. The second building nominated in the capital was the Bézier Apartments , near Old Street, which was accused of being shaped like a bum. Birmingham's The Cube , a 23-floor building with a glass-panelled roof, was put forward because of its "clunky windows", "inelegant vents" and gold colour, which was meant as a nod to its location in the city's jewellery quarter. The memorial centre for the Scottish poet Robert Burns in Kilmarnock , the St Anne's Square development in Belfast and the Haymarket Hub in Newcastle also made the list. Last year the prize went to Liverpool Ferry Terminal . Its ugliness was thought to be award winning because it was argued that it blighted a world heritage site. The Carbuncle Cup judge Ellis Woodman, deputy editor of Building Design magazine, said: "I would like to think that this might be a good opportunity to reconsider what was built in the in the last building boom. "These buildings could have been so much better if there had been better levels of consultation in the planning process." The six buildings on the shortlist will be considered by a panel of expert judges in consultation with architects and local residents. The winner of the Carbuncle Cup will be announced on August 27. The prize takes its name from a 1984 speech by Prince Charles, well known for his support for traditional architecture, in which he described a proposed extension to the National Gallery as a "monstrous carbuncle".