The RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist is right here, revealing a listing of six buildings, all now contenders for this 12 months’s high structure gong – the most effective UK constructing for 2025.
Established in 1996, the award is broadly acknowledged for its prestigious standing, highlighting the nation’s best structure. The extremely revered accolade is historically introduced in October and has up to now included a significant London infrastructure scheme, the Elizabeth Line (2024), and a residential and nursing facility, the John Morden Centre (2023). This 12 months’s winner will likely be revealed in a ceremony on the Roundhouse in London on 16 October 2025.
Discover the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist
The shortlist spans scales and typologies – from personal houses to neighborhood dwelling in later life; and from a pharmaceutical big’s headquarters in Cambridge (designed by some of the recognisable names in modern structure – Herzog and de Meuron) to the restoration of a British landmark, the house of Large Ben. Scroll down to select your favorite, earlier than the jury publicizes theirs.
Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
(Picture credit score: Philip Vile)
Appleby Blue Almshouse in Bermondsey, south London is a social housing improvement for over-65-year-olds that responds with immense thoughtfulness to the problem of individuals wanting to remain within the metropolis, and neighbourhoods they know and love, as they become old. The venture, which was delivered by United St Saviour’s Charity (which is able to handle the block in perpetuity), Southwark Council and developer JTRE, was conceived to provide older individuals extra decisions when it comes to retirement dwelling than merely being ‘pushed or incentivised to the town’s edge or the coast’, explains Stephen Witherford, co-founder of Witherford Watson Mann Architects, the apply behind the constructing’s design.
Elizabeth Tower by Purcell
(Picture credit score: Home of Commons)
You could understand it extra as the house of Large Ben, the immediately recognisable London landmark. The Elizabeth Tower was accomplished in 1859, designed by architect AWN Pugin as a part of his work for the Homes of Parliament constructing. It has since been restored each 30 or so years. Heritage specialist Purcell led the newest refresh, which has been praised by the Stirling jury: ‘This newest programme of restoration was deliberate to rectify earlier errors and prolong the cycle of future restore works. This venture is a veritable masterclass in conservation and craftsmanship. Essentially the most complete programme of works within the greater than 160 years for the reason that tower was constructed, it represents an astonishing achievement in upgrading and preserving this monument for the good thing about future generations.’
Hastings Home by Hugh Unusual Architects
(Picture credit score: Rory Gaylor)
A respectful renovation of a Nineteenth-century construction, Hastings Home by Hugh Unusual Architects breathes new life into an ageing hillside house. The constructing has been sensitively refreshed to Twenty first-century requirements by means of uncooked however trustworthy materiality and a sturdy, but minimalist really feel. Performance meets fashionable aesthetics on this Victorian reimagining with a timber-framed addition.
London School of Vogue by Allies and Morrison
(Picture credit score: Simon Menges)
Set within the coronary heart of Queen Elizabeth Park in Stratford, London School of Vogue by Allies and Morrison is a ‘vertical campus’. Catering to the wants of some 6,000 workers and college students, the constructing’s minimalist, gridded exterior provides technique to a high-drama inside, crammed with swirling concrete staircases and a versatile, flowing inside. The jury explains: ‘The ensuing constructing payments itself because the tallest higher-education constructing within the UK, and gives beautiful views. This vertical legibility is strengthened by a fabric language: three supplies are rigorously utilized all through – concrete for the structural skeleton, maple for the elements of the constructing one can contact, together with doorways and particulars reminiscent of built-in window seats, and darkish steel for soffits and providers.’
Niwa Home by Takero Shimazaki Architects
(Picture credit score: Anton Gorlenko)
‘Niwa’ means ‘backyard’ in Japanese, and this house absolutely embodies its identify – providing on the identical time a masterclass in accessible residential design. The venture, created by Takero Shimazaki Architects for a household that features a wheelchair person, wanted not solely to handle the purchasers’ present circulation and mobility necessities, but in addition to make sure easy use sooner or later, too. The only-storey construction contains ‘rigorously designed and situated courtyards that puncture the decrease stage and flood the bedrooms and circulation areas with pure mild, creating pretty vignettes of gardens and sky. The standard of sunshine all through the house is breathtaking,’ the jury explains in its quotation.
The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog & de Meuron / BDP
(Picture credit score: Hufton + Crow)
Comparatively low, finely carved and elegant-looking, this new analysis and improvement hub is a part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC) and designed by Herzog & Meuron for pharmaceutical big AstraZeneca. Fashionable on the within, delicate on the skin, The Discovery Centre’s design credentials cleverly belie its dimension. This and a necessity for flexibility had been key drivers for the design, explains Herzog & Meuron companion Stefan Marbach: ‘We wished to consciously preserve the constructing low, at three flooring, to make sure there are simple connections inside. Due to the spherical form, it by no means feels too large. On the identical time, it is a panorama of various conditions.’
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