The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the 20 winners of the RIBA National Awards 2025, which have been presented since 1966 to celebrate the best architecture in the UK. The awards highlight design excellence, innovation, and social value, offering insight into the country’s evolving architectural landscape.

Winning projects span a wide range of types and locations, from major civic buildings and scientific facilities to housing, conservation, and community-led schemes.

These projects now form the longlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious architecture award, with the shortlist due on 4 September 2025. Since their inception in 1966, the RIBA Awards have recognised projects of all scales that set the standard for excellence in UK architecture. Photo of 8 Bleeding Heart Yard by Tim Soar Gallery. RIBA National Awards 2025

8 Bleeding Heart Yard by GROUPWORK, retrofit of a 1970s office in Farringdon, London into a sustainable, layered workplace.

Aldourie Castle Estate by Ptolemy Dean Architects, the conservation of a Grade A listed estate in Scotland using local skills.

Appleby Blue Almshouse  by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, a contemporary almshouse in Southwark, London tackling social isolation.

Citizens House by Archio, 11 affordable homes on a former garage site in Lewisham, London.

Costa’s Barbers by Brisco Loran and Arrant Industries, flexible home and office in a converted shop unit in Battersea.

Elizabeth Tower by Purcell, the most comprehensive restoration of Big Ben’s tower in over 160 years.

Fairburn Tower by Simpson & Brown, restoration of a Category A listed tower in Scotland using traditional craftsmanship.

Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects, an ethical and aesthetic extension to a 19th-century home.

Hazelmead, Bridport Cohousing by Barefoot Architects , a 53-home timber-framed cohousing development in Bridport, designed to promote community living.

Hope Street by Snug Architects, a modest, purpose-built support facility for women in the justice system in Southampton.

HMP & YOI Stirling by Holmes Miller, a trauma-informed, therapeutic women’s prison in Scotland, designed to support rehabilitation.

London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison, a vertical campus in Stratford, London uniting six former sites.

Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects, a Japanese-style, fully wheelchair-accessible timber home in Southwark, London.

Sheerness Dockyard Church by Hugh Broughton Architects, transformation of a fire-damaged Grade II* church in Kent into a vibrant community space.

Sidcup Storyteller by DRDH Architects , A red-brick library, cinema, and co-working space forming the centrepiece of Sidcup’s high street regeneration.

Student Hub, Queen’s Business School Belfast by TODD Architects, a sustainable learning centre integrated with surrounding woodland.

The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog & de Meuron / BDP, AstraZeneca’s triangular research facility in Cambridge, focused on innovation and wellbeing.

The Old Byre by Gianni Botsford Architects, a home and artist retreat formed from two farm buildings on the Isle of Wight.

Triangle House by Artefact, a playful extension to a 1950s suburban home in Surrey.

Young V&A by AOC Architecture and De Matos Ryan, a bright, revitalised cultural venue in Bethnal Green, London, replacing the former Museum of Childhood.

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A rural road leads to the north side of a roughly square 160 x 160m site, with the house positioned at the edge of a clearing. The 230m2 timber-framed structure is set on a raised reinforced concrete slab. Branching out horizontally, its layout makes moving through the interior feel like traversing the forest. A central spine provides multiple forest views, while windows at the ends intensify the experience of the surrounding trees. Image © FBA. Florian Busch Architects

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“Liu Jiakun uplifts through the process and purpose of architecture, fostering emotional connections that unite communities,” states Tom Pritzker, Chairman of The Hyatt Foundation. Jury Chair Alejandro Aravena adds, “He has found a way to build places that are a building, infrastructure, landscape, and public space at the same time.” Liu’s work integrates local materials and craftsmanship, balancing historical influences with modern functionality. His Rebirth Bricks, made from the rubble of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, are used in projects such as Novartis Block – C6 and West Village, demonstrating his commitment to sustainability and reuse.

Liu describes his approach: “Architecture should reveal something—it should abstract, distill, and make visible the inherent qualities of local people.” His projects prioritize cultural heritage and human experience, creating spaces that support public life and community engagement. The award ceremony will take place in Abu Dhabi, marking the first time the Pritzker Prize is celebrated in the Arab world. Image of West Village courtesy of Qian Shen Photography. Pritzker Prize

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The exterior features dark-stained larch wood cladding and movable louvred shutters of varying sizes, allowing adjustable light, ventilation, and privacy. A covered terrace runs along the water-facing side, while a pond-side deck extends over the northwest pond.

Inside, smooth spruce walls and larch floors contrast with the dark exterior. The compact layout includes a living kitchen, bedroom with bathroom, and a loft sleeping area accessed via a ladder. Sliding elements function as doors and built-in storage, maximizing space. Large sliding windows and a double door connect the interior to the pond terrace.

The site retains its fish ponds, with continuous water flow shaping the landscape and providing a constant ambient sound. Photo by Daisuke-Hirabayashi. NUEME

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Over nearly three decades, SANAA has pioneered sustainable, user-centred design, emphasizing inclusivity and accessibility. The 2025 RIBA Honours Committee praised the firm for establishing “a universal language of architecture” that balances functionality with profound elegance, noting its intellectually rigorous approach.

Their hallmark lies in balancing minimalistic facades with quiet interior complexity, creating environments that connect people to each other and to their surroundings. Notable projects include the New Museum in New York, Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa. Photo of Bocconi University, Italy (2019) © SANAA. RIBA

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The internal rooms benefit from a spatial layout that avoids corridors, making efficient use of space. Each apartment occupies an entire floor, allowing windows on all sides to bring in natural light from every direction. The flexible layout, featuring double doors and folding walls with integrated doors, enables the apartments to adapt seamlessly to the needs of their occupants.

The windows are positioned at the corners such that, upon entry, rooms appear to be outside spaces. The structural elements around the windows extend beyond the facade, framing views of the surrounding landscape. Photo by Rory Gardiner. Mathis Kamplade Architekten

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The building features a T-shaped plan centred around two courtyards, with open-plan rooms designed to accommodate wheelchair use. Sliding pocket doors enable long sightlines through expansive glazing. All key areas, including the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living spaces, and adjoining studio, are located on the ground floor around the courtyards. The double-height dining room opens to both the front and rear gardens through wide sliding doors, while the TV area is distinguished by its lower ceiling. The bedroom opens directly onto the garden, and the bathroom, with its large windows, offers garden views, with both spaces designed to receive abundant natural light.

The studio is accessed from the entrance hall and features a sky-lit space overlooking the front courtyard. The ground floor also includes a carer’s bedroom, with a lift providing access to the upper floor, which contains two additional bedrooms and a kitchenette for a second carer or guests. The building’s massing and form are influenced by the sun’s movement, ensuring ample natural light and maximizing winter solar gain. The 12-degree roof pitch integrates photovoltaic panels on the southwest face, and an overhang provides shade and a covered route from vehicles to the front door. The cassette construction system allows for minimal waste, quick assembly, and good insulation and thermal performance, with durable, self-finished materials like SiOO:x larch timber used for the exterior. Photo © Edmund Sumner. Knox Bhavan

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The five-acre green space around London’s Natural History Museum has been transformed by Architects Feilden Fowles in collaboration with landscape architects J & L Gibbons, into two gardens for visitors and research: the Nature Discovery Garden and the Evolution Garden.

The Evolution Garden presents a timeline of 2.7 billion years of Earth’s history through plants, rocks from different geological periods across the UK, and representations of reptiles, birds, and mammals.

The Nature Discovery Garden, with pathways winding around ponds, is a space for visitors and scientists to learn about urban wildlife. Frogs, newts, dragonflies, and mandarin ducks have already been spotted in the ponds.

The redevelopment focuses on sustainable design and construction, featuring a diesel-free site, zero waste to landfill, and rainwater harvesting for plants. The Museum’s Wildlife Garden has been expanded to double the native habitats and the pond area increased by 60%, enhancing support for animal and plant biodiversity.

Image of sunken walkway through the translocated pond in the Nature Discovery Garden – photo © Jim Stephenson / The Trustees of The Natural History Museum / Feilden Fowles. Natural History Museum

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Archipelagic Void by Seoul-based Korean architect Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies is the 23rd Serpentine Pavillion in Kensington Gardens. The pavilion comprises a void in the centre surrounded by smaller adaptable structures, referencing the ‘madang’, or open courtyard found in traditional Korean houses.

Each structure is different in size, form, name, and purpose, providing a platform for various live events. The entry to the pavilion, The Gallery, hosts a sound installation; the artwork, ‘Library of Unread Books’ is hosted in the north of the Pavilion; the Tea House is in the east; the Auditorium in the west; along with an outdoor space, the Playtower. Five covered and five in-between spaces surround the void, integrating with the surrounding park and Pavilion activities.

The structure is predominantly constructed using sustainably sourced Douglas Fir timber. Steel is used for high-stress connections and frames the pre-stressed PVC roof covering. The floor consists of sandstone paving, recycled matting and bound gravel. Precast concrete with high cement replacement is used for the pad foundations and plinths and is removable and reusable. Timber boards, PVC, and polycarbonate are used for roofs and walls. Image of Serpentine Pavilion 2024, Archipelagic Void, designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies © Mass Studies Photo by Iwan Baan Courtesy Serpentine. Serpentine Galleries

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Typical of the cellars in the area, the introverted ground floor accommodates the bedrooms, while the first floor, reflecting the typology of the Mediterranean house, contains the kitchen and dining room. The top floor features a folded roof with windows on all four sides and a roof light between the folds.

Conceived as a massive reinforced concrete structure emerging from the mountain with four blocks occupying the centre of each facade. The blocks serve a structural and functional role, containing elements such as the staircase, fireplace, storage, and bathrooms, with the size of the central space on each floor increasing on the upper floors. Photo by Franco Mattei. celoria Architects

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