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2025 RIBA Stirling Prize to Appleby Blue Almshouse

John Hill | 17. October 2025

Photo: Philip Vile

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winner of the 29th RIBA Stirling Prize: Appleby Blue Almshouse, a social housing complex in London for people over 65, designed by Witherford Watson Mann Architects.

The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize was announced last night at a ceremony at London's Roundhouse, when a whole suite of national prizes were also celebrated. Among them, the Stirling Prize is considered “the UK’s most prestigious award for architecture, celebrating buildings that have made a significant contribution to the evolution of the built environment.”

The shortlist for this year's Stirling Prize was announced in early September, with Appleby Blue Almshouse accompanied by three other projects in London (Elizabeth Tower by Purcell, London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison, and Niwa House by Takero Shimazaki Architects ) and two projects in other parts of England (The Discovery Centre in Cambridge by Herzog and de Meuron & BDP, and Hastings House in East Sussex by Hugh Strange Architects).

Photo: Philip Vile

Described as “an almshouse for the 21st century” by the jury, Appleby Blue, in Southwark, is a five-story building arranged around a central courtyard and a series of shared rooms facing the street—a café, cookery school, craft room, and meeting room—all geared to supporting, in the words of Witherford Watson Mann Architects, “both active and sociable use by residents, and supporting exchange with the wider community.” The project replaced an abandoned care home and effectively flipped the old model around—placing 59 apartments in a U-shaped plan around the courtyard and putting the shared spaces in the heart of the building so the residents are not socially isolated.

Clad in brick facing the streets and timber in the courtyard, the building features bay windows that “create a strong social connection between residents and the surrounding community,” per RIBA, terracotta paved hallways with planters and benches that form a “social corridor” and “encourage spontaneous interaction among residents,” and a double-height public “garden room” and community kitchen that “offer residents a form of co-living centered around communal spaces.” The jury praised the “remarkable collaboration and meticulous attention to detail” between Witherford Watson Mann Architects and their client, United St. Saviour’s Charity. Their collaboration has resulted in “a serene, social and profoundly transformational environment for the users of Appleby Blue.”

Photo: Philip Vile

“Designing social housing for later life is too often reduced to a simple provision of service. Appleby Blue, however, is a provision of pure delight. Its architects have crafted high-quality spaces that are generous and thoughtful, blending function and community to create environments that truly care for their residents. This project is a clarion call for a new form of housing at a pivotal moment. Built against the backdrop of two crises, an acute housing shortage and a growing loneliness epidemic among older people, Appleby Blue offers a hopeful and imaginative response, where residents and the surrounding community are brought together through the transformative nature of the design. By creating a radical and significant model that embraces co-living at a time where our demographics are shifting, Appleby Blue sets an ambitious standard for social housing among older people. Not only does it perform the rare act of freeing up accommodation while keeping residents embedded in their community, it shows that design, when infused with deep care, can meaningfully address the pressing issues of today.”
Ingrid Schroder, jury member