A Passivhaus library and a special collections centre both feature in the 13 projects on the shortlist
Whichever projects win in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South Awards will be considered for the RIBA National Award, the winners of which will in turn be considered for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
13 projects are on the shortlist for the South Awards, showing a diverse range of building designs.
The 13 projects are as follows
- Chalk River House by Oliver Leech Architects
- Copper Bottom by Adrian James Architects
- House in a Barn by Artel31
- Manor Farm Barn by BHB Architects
- Meadow House by John Pardey Architects
- Plant by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with Grant Associates, Twelve Architects and Studio Knight Stokoe
- Ridgeway House by Charlie Luxton Design
- South Barn by Studio Weave
- The Branch Community Centre by Clews Architects
- The Gradel Quadrangles by David Kohn Architects
- The Old Boathouse by Napier Clarke Architects
- The Spencer Building, Corpus Christi College, Oxford by Wright & Wright Architects
- Woodland Quad, Wellington College by MICA
RIBA South jury chair and associate director at Hayhurst and Co, Claire Taggart, said: “This year’s RIBA South shortlist is delightfully diverse, with projects demonstrating excellence across many different aspects. The shortlist celebrates ambitious and original design, exceptional detailing and craft, innovative adaptation and retrofit, meticulous repair and restoration and brave client and project team collaborations. The jury were particularly heartened to see sustainable agendas at the heart of many of the entries- through adaptive re-use, low-carbon construction and commitment to ambitious low-energy and net-zero strategies.
“Congratulations to the shortlisted projects and their teams. The jury are excited for the opportunity to explore them and to meet those who made them happen.”
Shortlists for several RIBA awards have been released
The shortlists for the RIBA West Midlands Awards were released earlier this month, as well as the RSAW Welsh Architecture Awards, the RIBA South West and Wessex Awards, and the RIBA East Awards.
Just like last year, the awards will culminate in this year’s RIBA Stirling Awards. The shortlist for the Stirling Awards last year were:
1. Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
A pioneering model providing housing for later living: Replacing an abandoned care home, Appleby Blue radically reimagines the traditional almshouse to foster community and reduce isolation among residents. The layout flips a centuries-old typology, placing communal spaces at its heart to encourage interaction, while bay windows at street level connect residents to the outside world. Thoughtful details, such as the timber-clad interior, discreet accessibility features and terracotta paved hallways bursting with benches and planters, aim to deinstitutionalise the typical model of older people’s housing. The result is a new standard for inclusive social housing in later life.
2. Elizabeth Tower by Purcell
Preservation of a national monument: Housing the symbolic ‘Big Ben’ bell – the timepiece of the nation, the most comprehensive restoration of Elizabeth Tower in 160 years is a conservation masterpiece. Traditional materials and bespoke craftspeople were sourced from across the UK to honour the Tower’s original design, rectifying previous restoration missteps and repairing newly uncovered damage from the Second World War. Careful details, such as reinstating the Victorian colour scheme on the clock faces and reintroducing the St George’s Cross, return the tower to its former glory. Subtle improvements to accessibility, including a new visitor lift, have also opened up the monument to a broader audience for the first time.
3. Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects
An inventive home extension: Instead of demolishing an ageing hillside home, Hastings House reuses and celebrates the existing structure and materials to create a house of contrasts. A restrained, updated Victorian front gives way to a modern, timber framed rear, while a rough concrete courtyard celebrates its industrial character. A series of stitched extensions step up the hillside, blending inside and outside to cleverly create light-filled, open spaces. The result goes beyond a house extension, transforming the entire home and producing a lesson in restrained, inventive reuse.
4. London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison
A vertical campus for creativity: Located in the cultural heart of the Queen Elizabeth Park in Stratford, the new home for the London College of Fashion brings together its 6,000 staff and students for the first time. A constrained site prompted a vertical campus rising to 17 storeys, with dramatic staircases unfurling through a shared “heart space” to encourage collaboration. A restrained palette of materials allows the building to act as a canvas for its occupants, while long sightlines and flexible workspaces promote adaptability. Subtle nods to the area’s industrial history create the feeling of a thriving “factory for fashion”.
5. Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects
A blueprint for accessible housing: Meaning “Garden Home” in Japanese, Niwa House is a pavilion-like oasis built on a previously derelict South London plot. Sprawling across and downwards to navigate planning constraints, this “horizontal home” is a masterclass in craftsmanship and restraint. Subtle interventions, such as a flowing open-plan layout and integrated accessibility features create a seamless experience for its wheelchair-user resident while futureproofing it for later life, demonstrating how inclusive design can be functional yet elegant. A hybrid timber and stone structure, paired with floor to ceiling windows, bathe each room in light, while a courtyard garden rising through both floors underlines the serene sense of escapism.
6. The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog and de Meuron / BDP
A civic laboratory: AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre radically redefines the research facility, blending cutting-edge laboratories with welcoming public spaces. The surprisingly low-rise, sawtooth-roofed building adopts a curved triangular plan, forming an inviting interface for Cambridge’s Biomedical Cluster. At its heart, a publicly accessible courtyard echoes the city’s iconic college quadrangles, one of the buildings many tributes to Cambridge’s heritage. Inside, 16 glass-lined laboratories are connected by clever interconnecting corridors that balance stringent security with transparency, putting science on display. Flexible lab stations and open-plan layouts foster innovation in a bold new prototype for research facilities.
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