STOCKHOLM (AFP).- The Nobel Foundation unveiled Wednesday the winning design for a building that will give the world's most prestigious prize a home for the first time in its 100-plus-year history.

The Foundation hopes to inaugurate the 25,000-square-metre (269,000-square-feet) building in 2018, when it is expected to house nearly all its activities, including the Nobel Prize ceremony and the Nobel museum.

"The winner of the architecture competition of the Nobel Centre is David Chipperfield Architects in Berlin," Nobel Foundation executive director Lars Heikensten said at a press conference.

The Nobel Centre, with a 1.2 billion-kronor (133 million euros, $184 million) budget, will be built in a historic district, surrounded by water and near some of the city's main museums and landmarks.

The new building will gather all the foundation's activities, which are currently scattered around the city, except the Nobel banquet, which will remain in the city hall.

The Nobel Prize ceremony, traditionally held on December 10 at the Stockholm Concert Hall, will move to the new venue, as well as the Nobel museum and the Nobel Foundation offices.

The Nobel Centre will also house a library, several conference rooms and educational space for school visits.

The building, with a bronze, stone and glass facade, will attempt to reflect some of the Nobel aspirations, according to the winning architecture studio.

"It has a certain classical simplicity and solidity," British architect David Chipperfield said.

"It tries to find a balance between being solid on the one hand and transparent on the other."

Two-thirds of the project's budget are already secured by private donations.

The creation of a home for the Nobel Prize has been discussed ever since the awards were first handed out in Stockholm in 1901.



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