RIBA Reveals National Award Winners for 2025

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14 July 2025

20 projects have been named RIBA National Award Winners, including office retrofits, a women’s prison & the restoration of Big Ben’s Elizabeth Tower.

Let’s take a look at some of the winners:

 

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The Elizabeth Tower Restoration 

 

One notable winner is Purcell’s extensive restoration of the 160-year-old Elizabeth Tower, the biggest conservation project in its history. This iconic London landmark underwent a meticulous repair of the tower's fabric, interior rooms, and the clock mechanism itself. The Great Clock of Westminster, Big Ben’s official timepiece, has over 1,000 components and weighs over 12 tonnes.

Architect Purcell said: “The Elizabeth Tower is the pinnacle of Parliament: the symbolic heartbeat and timepiece of the nation. Its restoration is a testament to the preservation of historic landmarks, craftmanship, and the integration of modern engineering techniques.

“At the project’s inception in 2015, the tower was overdue for its next repair cycle: the subsequent conservation and refurbishment project has been the most extensive in the tower’s 160-year history. Purcell's objective was to undertake comprehensive repairs, whilst undoing detrimental previous interventions, and extending its life cycle before the next refurbishment to 50 years, safeguarding its future as a cultural monument and heritage site."

The RIBA jury was particularly impressed with the use of specialist crafts from across the UK: “The preservation of such incredible skill, workmanship and material appreciation for the nation is one of the defining achievements of the project. This went hand in hand with harnessing contemporary technologies and techniques to enable effective project coordination and implementation of more sustainable approaches, to preserve this defining symbol of British heritage for the future.”

 

The Discovery Centre (DISC)

 

AstraZeneca’s curved “triangular” research & development facility houses over 2,200 research scientists & was praised for “blending thoughtful placemaking with scientific innovation.”   

The £1 billion building, from Herzog & de Meuron and BDP, has been described as “a feat of environmental engineering”, with i174 boreholes to provide natural geothermal energy.

The RIBA jury also acknowledged the additional project challenge of the delays caused by AstraZeneca’s need to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Picture: a photograph of the DISC building showing the roof, façade and car park. Image Credit: ©Hufton+Crow

 

HMP & YOI Stirling 

 

This 100-person capacity women’s prison replaces the previous HMP Cornton Vale prison on the existing site between Cornton and Bridge of Allan, north of Stirling. 

Architect Holmes Miller said their design was focused on “creating a gender specific, trauma informed, and therapeutic environment throughout, structured around a well considered series of landscaped environments, whilst taking advantage of key views to the wider historic environment of the area.”

The RIBA citation praised the project for its design “with compassion and clarity” and as an interesting alternative to traditional prison architecture.

 

Picture: a photograph showing the exterior of HMP & YOI Stirling, showing a garden and several modern buildings. Image Credit: ©Chris Humphries

 

8 Bleeding Heart Yard

 

8 Bleeding Heart Yard was named RIBA National Award Winner for its highly detailed retrofit of a “lifeless 1970s office building” into a richly layered, sustainable workplace.

The jury said: "Photovoltaic panels, high levels of insulation and airtightness and an air-source heat pump all contribute to impressively low in-use energy credentials. Forensically studying archival evidence of the predecessor buildings that had once occupied the site – a range of Victorian shops and houses – the architects sought to recreate the historical roofline and façade arrangement. This they achieved by effectively applying a new shroud which replays the past, on top of the 1970s shell."

 

RIBA National Award Winners 2025 – Full List

 

• 8 Bleeding Heart Yard
• Aldourie Castle Estate
• Appleby Blue Almshouse
• Citizens House
• Costa’s Barbers 
• Elizabeth Tower
• Fairburn Tower 
• Hastings House
• Hazelmead, Bridport Cohousing
• HMP & YOI Stirling 
• Hope Street  
• London College of Fashion 
• Niwa House 
• Sheerness Dockyard Church 
• Student Hub, Queens Business School Belfast 
• The Discovery Centre (DISC)
• The Old Byre 
• Triangle House
• Young V&A 

 

Picture: a photograph showing the clock face of Big Ben when it was being renovated, covered in scaffolding. Image Credit: Purcell

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 14 July 2025

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