Tower Hamlets Town Hall Named RIBA London Building of the Year 2025

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• Tower Hamlets Town Hall Named RIBA London Building of the Year 2025

05 June 2025

Tower Hamlets Town Hall was named the winner of the RIBA London Building of the Year Award 2025.

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’ (AHMM) restoration of the Grade II-listed former Royal London Hospital has produced a new home for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets council staff, consolidating several offices into one location.

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The RIBA jury praised the project as a “tour de force of reinvention, combining a sensitivity to the existing building’s story with a sharpness of contemporary detailing.” 

Many original elements of the building’s former use remain. The external Georgian façade has been restored, Grade II listed 1906 staircases in the 1750s building have been retained, and old operating theatres have been repurposed as meeting rooms.

Picture: a photograph showing the full scale of the three-storey atrium. Image Credit: © Timothy Soar Photography

A new build extension was also added, providing six floors of open-plan offices and a new council chamber.

The old and new buildings combine in a three-storey-high atrium, with exposed brickwork of the former hospital’s south façade. Reclaimed bricks from parts of the original building’s demolition have been used in repairs on other parts of the site.  

The building uses all-electric energy, including power generated from solar panels, and the project has attained a BREEAM Outstanding rating for sustainability.

The RIBA jury said: ”The scheme boldly reinvents the dilapidated and derelict Grade II listed former hospital buildings, satisfying the brief by overlaying it on the existing spaces and adding a substantial new extension. The approach is at once sensitive and brave, creating a modern, civic home for council administration, local services and democracy, including a flexible council chamber and office space for the council’s 2,400 staff. The inclusive access strategy cleverly resolves challenges in relation to both the public realm and the interior circulation."

Picture: a photograph showing the front exterior of the new town hall Image Credit: © Timothy Soar Photography

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 05 June 2025

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