Big Ben Restoration Shortlisted for RIBA Stirling Prize
The Elizabeth Tower overhaul in London has been nominated for the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize, joining five other innovative architectural projects.
The five-year, £80m refurbishment of the Elizabeth Tower, home to the Big Ben bell, has been shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Stirling Prize. It joins five other projects, including a new fashion college campus, a science research centre and inventive residential schemes.
2025 Nominees
- Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
- Elizabeth Tower by Purcell
- Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects
- London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison
- Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects
- The Discovery Centre by Herzog & de Meuron/BDP
Riba president Chris Williamson praised the shortlist for showcasing architecture’s ability to address urgent challenges with creativity, adaptability and care, offering “a blueprint for how architecture can enrich society” and support sustainability.
Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
This social housing development in Southwark provides 57 flats for over-65s, replacing an abandoned care home with communal kitchens and a garden room to foster community and reduce isolation.
Elizabeth Tower by Purcell
As one of London’s most iconic landmarks, the 160-year-old tower underwent its most extensive overhaul, restoring the clock mechanism, reviving the original blue and gold clock-face colours and installing a lift for accessibility.
Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects
This hillside home in East Sussex was transformed with timber-framed additions, a concrete courtyard and a steel staircase, described by judges as “a lesson in restrained, inventive reuse.”
London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison
The new 17-storey campus in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park brings 6,000 students and staff together under one roof, featuring dramatic staircases around a central “heart space” to encourage collaboration.
Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects
Inspired by Japanese design, this pavilion-like home in south London opens onto gardens with full-height glass walls and sliding doors, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor living environment accessible to wheelchair users.
The Discovery Centre by Herzog & de Meuron/BDP
AstraZeneca’s research facility in Cambridge integrates cutting-edge labs with public spaces in a triangular glass structure, where interlinked corridors balance security with transparency to put science on display.
From historic landmarks to cutting-edge research hubs, the 2025 shortlist demonstrates conservation, innovation and social impact at the heart of contemporary architecture.
This topic was reported by BBC.
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