A cutting-edge £38m secondary school specialising in sport has beaten the Olympic Velodrome to win the UK’s most coveted architecture prize.

The Evelyn Grace Academy, in Shakespeare Road, Brixton, was described as a “highly stylized zig-zag of steel and glass”, and squeezed onto a site five times smaller than the average secondary school.

Despite the lack of space, architect Zaha Hadid included a 100m running track going through the school building.

The building won the £20,000 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize at a ceremony last night, which will be televised on BBC Two’s Culture Show at 5pm today, Sunday, October 2.

The building houses four schools under a single academy umbrella, and had to express both their independence and unity.

School principal Peter Walker said: “This visually stunning building makes a powerful statement to our students every day they attend school.

“As a new academy setting the highest expectations for all students, it is fitting that we have such an aspirational environment.

“The internal structure of the building supports the innovative nature of Evelyn Grace Academy’s small school system exceptionally well.”

RIBA president Angela Brady said: “The Evelyn Grace Academy is an exceptional example of what can be achieved when we invest carefully in a well-designed new school building.

“The result - a highly imaginative, exciting academy that shows the students, staff and local residents that they are valued - is what every school should and could be.

“The unique design, expertly inserted into an extremely tight site, celebrates the school's sports specialism throughout its fabric, with drama and views of student participation at every contortion and turn.”