The Centenary Building in Salford was described as ‘dynamic and sophisticated’ when it won the first Stirling prize. Now it is to be knocked down as part of a huge development

• Rowan Moore’s view

When judges awarded Salford’s Centenary Building the inaugural Stirling prize in 1996, they declared it “a dynamic, modern and sophisticated exercise in steel, glass and concrete”.

The recognition as Britain’s best new building from the Royal Institute of British Architects cemented Salford as an emblem of emerging northern architecture.