A “radical and significant” social housing complex for people over the age of 65 has won the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) Stirling Prize 2025 for architecture.
The Appleby Blue Almshouse, by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, claimed the prestigious award on Thursday for its community-centered design, beating out the restoration of the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the bell known as Big Ben, and the new home to the London College of Fashion.
Nestled in Bermondsey, London, the design reimagines later living as a collective experience, integrating features to help reduce social isolation among older people such as light-filled hallways with customisable planters and benches for residents to interact in, a colourful and communal roof terrace, and a double-height public “garden room”.
It also features a community kitchen, offering everyone the space to come together and socialise along with a varied public calendar of events.
Speaking on behalf of the Riba Stirling Prize Jury, Ingrid Schroder, director of the architectural association (AA) school of architecture, praised the model adding that it “sets an ambitious standard” for improved social housing for later life – at a time when it’s needed the most.
She said: “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.”
The development, which consists of 59 flats, also prioritises its residents’ access to green spaces with properties arranged around its central courtyard made up of a range of plants, trees and a water feature.
Ms Schroder continued: “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.”
Appleby Blue beat a number of shortlisted designs including the Hastings House, an ageing hillside home in East Sussex which has been extended with a modern, timber-framed rear, south London’s Niwa House, an open-plan layout design described as a “blueprint for accessible housing” and the Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca’s new Discovery Centre in Cambridge.
Previous winners include London’s Elizabeth Line train network which took home the prestigious award in 2024 for its “flawless, efficient, beautifully choreographed solution to inner-city transport”.
