Image: The Populous-designed Olympic Stadium

London's "seemingly simple, yet highly innovative" Olympic Stadium has been named as one of six buildings across the UK shortlisted for the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize.

The stadium - the centrepiece of the Olympic and Paralympic Games starting on Friday (27 July) - was designed by Populous and was completed in March 2011.

Among the features of the stadium is that it can be taken down and reused at another site or taken apart and made smaller, while its sunken arena means less steps for spectators.

It joins a shortlist that also includes Belfast's Lyric Theatre and Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire and has already picked up a RIBA Award this year.

RIBA president Angela Brady said: "The annual RIBA Stirling Prize celebrates architectural excellence and this year we have an incredibly strong list of contenders."

The six shortlisted buildings will be visited by judges, who will then meet for the final time on the day of the presentation - 13 October - in order to pick a winner.

Click here for more details about the shortlist for the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize, along with information about past winners and the judging panel.

Image: Populous/ODA