The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the 20 winners of the 2025 RIBA National Awards, recognising the most significant contributions to architecture across the UK. Presented annually since 1966, the awards celebrate design excellence and provide a valuable snapshot of evolving architectural, cultural, and social trends. This year's winning projects span the length and breadth of the country, from the Isle of Wight to Scotland and Northern Ireland, and represent a wide range of typologies and scales, from major institutional buildings to small-scale residential and community-focused interventions.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, founders of the practice SANAA, will receive the 2025 Royal Gold Medal for architecture. Awarded on behalf of His Majesty the King, the medal is one of the highest honors in the field, recognizing what RIBA describes as SANAA's contribution to shaping contemporary architecture through simplicity, light, and refined design.
Six Columns, designed by 31/44 Architects has been announced as the winner of the RIBA House of the Year 2024 award. Designed by Will Burges, Director of 31/44 Architects, for his own family, this four-bedroom residence occupies a compact urban plot in Crystal Palace, South London. The home's design, inspired by the six prominent columns that define its structure, integrates with the surrounding terraced houses while retaining a distinctive and compelling architectural identity.
Modulus matrix -85 social housing in Cornellà, Barcelonaby Peris + Toral Arquitectes. Image Courtesy of RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded its 2024 International Prize to Modulus Matrix, an 85-unit social housing development in Cornellà, near Barcelona. Designed by Peris + Toral Arquitectes, the six-story timber-framed building is a notable example of innovative social housing design. Its modular structure, based on a 3.6m x 3.6m grid inspired by traditional Japanese homes, creates a flexible and adaptable living space. The design prioritizes cross-ventilation, dual orientation, and a central communal courtyard, fostering social interaction and community building.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the Elizabeth Line, designed by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation, and AtkinsRéalis, as the winner of the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize. Since its inception in 1996, the prestigious annual award sets out to recognize UK's best new architecture. Named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, the Elizabeth Line represents an important development for London's transportation network. Connecting Reading and Heathrow to Essex and South East London, the development spans 62 miles of track and 26 miles of tunnels, a complex and expansive undertaking accommodating 700,000 passengers every weekday.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has unveiled the 26 winners of the 2024 RIBA National Awards for Architecture, recognizing the finest examples of UK architecture and showcasing the country's design and social trends. Established in 1996, the awards highlight outstanding architectural projects across the UK, from Northern Ireland and Scotland to the south of England. This year's award celebrates projects that feature "inspiring examples of existing buildings and structures that have been given a new lease of life." Recognized for intelligent design and collaboration with clients and local communities, the award winners also showcase innovative construction techniques and thoughtful material selections.
On behalf of His Majesty the King, Ghanian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko has been officially awarded the 2024 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. Held at RIBA London headquarters, the medal was presented by RIBA President Muyiwa Oki, acknowledging Lokko’s dedication to promoting diverse perspectives in architectural practice and education. As the curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, she has been working to explore the overlaps between architecture and race, while shifting focus to Africa and its diaspora in the industry.
Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator Lesley Lokko has been announced as the recipient of the 2024 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), becoming the first African woman to receive the award. Lokko is not a practicing architect, but as a teacher, writer, and curator she has fought to widen access to the profession and to bring forward voices that have been disregarded for far too long. As the curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, she has shifted the focus to Africa and its diaspora, exploring the complex themes of decolonization and decarbonization. For all her contributions to the profession, Lesley Lokko will be formally presented with the medal in May 2024 by Muyiwa Oki, RIBA’s first black president.
The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the winners of the 2023 President’s Medals, highlighting the best student architecture projects worldwide. In its 187th edition, RIBA’s President's Medals have stood as the hallmark of architectural excellence, remaining the oldest within the institution realm. Overall, the winning projects demonstrate a strong focus on "how architecture can address the needs of people and their communities."
For the 2023 Cycle, the highly acclaimed RIBA Silver Medal for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 2 was awarded to Ellie Harging at the London School of Architecture. Titled “Nobody Wants to Live in a Care Home,” the project designs supportive housing for people living with young-onset Alzheimer's. The RIBA Bronze Medal was awarded to Kacper Sehenke, while the Dissertation Medal was awarded to Chloe Shang.
The 2023 RIBA House of the Year Award has been awarded to “Green House.” Designed by Hayhurst & Co, this polycarbonate-lined residential family home was inspired by nature. The annual award recognizes the house as the best example of residential design in the UK. Described as a “domestic greenhouse” and an “extraordinary ordinary house” by the RIBA jury, the design reflects nature’s ability to influence design.
Annabelle Tan (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for Past, Present and Post-Tropicality: Viewing Singapore through an ‘Infra(-)structural’ Field. . Image Courtesy of RIBA 2022 President’s Medals
The Royal Institute of British Architects has just announced the winners of the 2022 President’s Medals, highlighting the world’s best student architecture projects. In its 186th edition, RIBA’s oldest awards have gathered the highest-ever number of entries, receiving 347 entries nominated by 100 schools of architecture located in 27 countries.
For the 2022 cycle, the RIBA Silver Medal for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 2 or equivalent, was awarded to Annabelle Tan at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, for A Journey through Past, Present, and Post-Tropicality, who was also granted the RIBA Dissertation Medal. The RIBA Bronze Medal (for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 1 or equivalent) went to Mary Holmes at the University of Cambridge for Out of the Closet, Into the Garden.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the Hackney School of Food, designed by Surman Weston, as the winner of the Stephen Lawrence Prize 2022. The award aims to encourage new architectural talent and to reward projects with a budget of less than £1 million. RIBA has also awarded the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2022 to the Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown. The award is given in honor of social housing pioneer Neave Brown (1926-2018) and it recognizes affordable housing initiatives in the UK.
Designed by Níall McLaughlin Architects, the Magdalene College Library was just selected as the winner of the 26th edition of the RIBAStirling Prize. Selected from a pool of shortlisted projects, the outstanding new building replaces a library gifted to Magdalene by Samuel Pepys 300 years ago and provides the students of the University of Cambridge with a new space that includes an archive and an art gallery.
Muyiwa Oki has been elected as the next President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), one of the highest positions in UK architecture. As RIBA's first Black President, Muyiwa Oki will take over the two-year presidential term from Simon Alfred starting on 1 September 2023.
