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NEWS AWARDS
RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist announced
The six projects shortlisted for the UK’s highest accolade in architecture have been announced. The list is as follows:
Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects Replacing an abandoned care home, Appleby Blue “radically reimagines the traditional almshouse to foster community and reduce isolation among residents,” said RIBA. The layout “fl ips a centuries-old typology, placing communal spaces at its heart to encourage interaction, while bay windows at street level connect residents to the outside world.” The timber-clad interior, discreet accessibility features and terracotta paved hallways bursting with benches and planters, “aim to deinstitutionalise the typical model of older people’s housing.” The result is a “new standard for inclusive social housing in later life.”
Elizabeth Tower by Purcell
new visitor lift, have also opened up the monument to a broader audience for the fi rst time.
Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects
Instead of demolishing an ageing hillside home, Hastings House “reuses and celebrates the existing structure and materials to create a house of contrasts,” said RIBA. A restrained, updated Victorian front gives way to a modern, timber framed rear, while a rough concrete courtyard “celebrates its industrial character.” A series of extensions step up the hillside, blending inside and outside to “cleverly create light fi lled, open spaces.” The result “goes beyond a house extension, transforming the entire home and producing a lesson in restrained, inventive reuse.”
London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison
Elizabeth Tower by Purcell Housing the symbolic ‘Big Ben’ bell, the most comprehensive restoration of Elizabeth Tower in 160 years is hailed as a “conservation masterpiece” by RIBA. Traditional materials and bespoke craftspeople were sourced from across the UK to “honour the Tower’s original design, rectifying previous restoration missteps,” as well as repairing newly uncovered damage from the Second World War. RIBA added: “Careful details, such as reinstating the Victorian colour scheme on the clock faces and reintroducing the St George’s Cross, return the tower to its former glory.” Subtle improvements to accessibility, including a
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Located in the cultural heart of Queen Elizabeth Park in Stratford, the new home for the London College of Fashion brings together its 6,000 staff and students for the fi rst time. A constrained site prompted a vertical campus rising to 17 storeys, with dramatic staircases unfurling through a shared “heart space” to encourage collaboration. A restrained palette of materials allows the building to act as a canvas for its occupants, while long sightlines and fl exible workspaces promote adaptability. Subtle nods to the area’s industrial history create the feeling of a thriving “factory for fashion.”
Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects Meaning “Garden Home” in Japanese, Niwa House is a “pavilion-like oasis” built on a previously derelict South London plot. “Sprawling across and downwards to navigate planning constraints, this ‘horizontal home’ is a masterclass in craftsmanship and restraint.” Subtle interventions, such as a fl owing open plan layout and integrated accessibility features, create a seamless experience for its wheelchair user residents while futureproofi ng it for later life, demonstrating how inclusive design can be functional yet elegant. A hybrid timber and stone structure, paired with fl oor to ceiling windows, bathes each room in light, while a courtyard garden rising through both fl oors underlines the “serene sense of escapism.”
The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog and de Meuron / BDP AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre “radically redefi nes the research facility, blending cutting edge laboratories with welcoming public spaces.” The “surprisingly low- rise, sawtooth roofed building adopts a curved triangular plan, forming an inviting interface for Cambridge’s Biomedical Cluster.” At its heart, a publicly accessible courtyard echoes the city’s iconic college quadrangles, one of the building’s many tributes to Cambridge’s heritage. Inside, 16 glass lined laboratories are connected by clever interconnecting corridors that balance stringent security with transparency, putting science on display. Flexible lab stations and open plan layouts “foster innovation in a bold new prototype for research facilities,” said RIBA.
London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison
The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 will be announced live at London’s Roundhouse on 16 October 2025, sponsored by Autodesk.
ADF OCTOBER 2025
The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog and de Meuron / BDP
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