The 2025 RIBA Stirling Architecture Prize goes to Appleby Blue Almshouse for redefining social housing with humane and sustainable design

🏆 Appleby Blue Almshouse Wins the 2025 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s Best Building

The social housing complex Appleby Blue Almshouse, designed by London-based studio Witherford Watson Mann Architects, has been awarded the 2025 RIBA Stirling Prize, the most prestigious accolade in British architecture, granted by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).


Located in Southwark, London, the project was built on the site of a former care home and offers 57 apartments for residents over 65, all arranged around a spacious central courtyard.

🌿 A New Model of Social Housing for Older Adults

The RIBA jury praised the project for setting “an ambitious standard for social housing for older people.”

During the awards ceremony in London, the complex also received the Neave Brown Award for the best new affordable housing project in the UK.


This year’s jury chair, Ingrid Schroder, director of the Architectural Association (AA) in London, emphasized the project’s social relevance:

“This project is a clear call for a new form of housing at a crucial time,”
said Schroder.

“Built in the context of two crises — a severe housing shortage and a growing epidemic of loneliness among older people — Appleby Blue offers a hopeful and imaginative response, where residents and the surrounding community come together through the transformative nature of design.”

 

The project presents itself as a radical and meaningful model of shared living, promoting community, accessibility, and emotional well-being in response to the challenges of an aging population and the lack of affordable housing.

🏘️ Contemporary Design with Historical Roots

Developed by the charity United St Saviour’s, Appleby Blue Almshouse draws inspiration from the traditional almshouse typology — a historic form of affordable sheltered housing for elderly people, often arranged around a courtyard.


However, unlike the traditional inward-facing designs, this new building was deliberately designed to connect with the surrounding neighborhood, featuring large windows that open onto the street and create a sense of inclusion.

The five-story complex includes a communal kitchen, a double-height garden room, terracotta-tiled corridors, and a rooftop garden. At its heart lies a courtyard garden, designed in collaboration with Grant Associates, that evokes a small forest with trees, flowers, and a cascading water feature.


🌇 A Benchmark in Sustainable and Community-Focused Architecture

Since 1996, the RIBA Stirling Prize has honored the best new building in the UK each year. This year, Appleby Blue Almshouse was selected from a shortlist of six finalists announced in September.


It is the second time that Witherford Watson Mann has won the coveted prize — the first was for Astley Castle in 2013 — and the studio was also shortlisted in 2019 for the Nevill Holt Opera.

The project has been widely praised for its sustainable approach, thoughtful material use, and ability to redefine contemporary social housing.

🏅 Other RIBA Awards 2025

During the ceremony held at The Roundhouse, London, RIBA also announced the winners of its 2025 Special Awards:

  • 🏠 Neave Brown Housing Award – Appleby Blue Almshouse

  • 🙌 RIBA Client of the Year 2025 – United St Saviour’s Charity

  • 🏛️ RIBA Reinvention Award – Sheerness Dockyard Church by Hugh Broughton Architects

  • 🪴 RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize – St Mary’s Walthamstow by Alex Spicer (Matthew Lloyd Architects)

The 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize went to the Elizabeth Line, designed by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation, and AtkinsRéalis. On that occasion, Neill McClements, partner at Grimshaw, described the award as “an endorsement of the importance of infrastructure.”

🏙️ Debate Over London-Centric Bias

This year’s Stirling Prize has sparked debate about a London-centric bias, as four of the six shortlisted projects were located in the capital.

Nonetheless, Appleby Blue Almshouse stands as a symbol of architectural innovation and social commitment, setting a new benchmark for sustainable public housing in the United Kingdom.

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