2025 AIA UK Excellence in Design Awards

Each year the AIA-UK recognises architectural design excellence through our annual Design Awards. This year, as we approach the 30th iteration of our awards, the AIA UK Board decided to reshape them in four fundamental ways.

Firstly, acknowledging that we are run by and for UK members, we focussed recognition on the excellence of architecture built in the UK only; historically our awards recognised architecture built anywhere in the world.

Secondly, we were keen to more explicitly acknowledge the positive roles architectural design plays in what it does for the people and places in which it is built, so we created broader categories that emphasise the importance of architectural design as a positive integrated intervention within larger social, political, economic, environmental, and physical contexts; historically we have used the rather blunt categories of scale and/or typology.

Thirdly, we wanted to acknowledge the breadth of architectural practice today, from the smallest of spatial interventions to the largest of regenerative infrastructure and landscape, and so we opened entries to any scale or type of project designed by an architect; historically our awards recognised only a traditional notion of the singular building.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, acknowledging the vital role of architects in the climate emergency, we continued to ratchet up the base level of environmental sustainability required for entries. We further integrated sustainable approaches and climate impact across both measurable metrics and more holistic approaches as a key criteria for the selection for all winners, valuing both detailed technical approaches, and strategic design decisions to minimise environmental impact and improve the sustainability of projects and their contexts in the broadest possible sense.

To judge this year's awards we were honoured to have the expertise of a fantastic range of jurors: Alison Brooks (Director and Founder of Alison Brooks Architects, and Chair of the Jury), DaeWha Kang (Founder and Director of DaeWha Kang Design), Edoardo Tibuzzi (Design Director, AKT II Engineering), and Ellie Stathaki (Architecture & Environment Director, *Wallpaper Magazine).  The jury convened in-person in April to review a diverse range of projects from across the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, ranging from a tiny isolated picnic lodge, and single family home renovations in suburbia, to new corporate headquarters, vast science laboratories, major infrastructure projects, and pretty much everything in between.  

Taking advantage of the renewed criteria, the jurors firstly rigorously narrowed the entrants down by design excellence in their various contexts.  From this selection of projects they collectively decided to award projects in the following categories: 

• 'Beyond The Brief', recognising the project that went far beyond the original brief to create something especially impactful for its contexts: 

• 'Outstanding Conservation Project': recognising the importance of architectural design in carefully and thoughtfully restoring historic projects to be conceptually honest to the original structure whilst also bringing the structure up to current building standards, especially around accessibility and energy performance.

• 'Outstanding Small Project': recognising the power of architectural design to transform the daily lives of its users in highly constrained sites and contexts

• 'Innovation & Beauty': the project that exemplified particular innovation in architectural design to create moments of beauty in contexts where design is not commonly present or deemed necessary

• 'Outstanding Place to Commute’: recognising the fundamental role of design in our transitory spaces and transport infrastructure, to move us not only physically but also emotionally too, creating spaces of movement between places and spaces comfortable, practical, durable, and uplifting. 

• 'Outstanding Adaptive Reuse': recognising the vital importance of reusing existing structures not only to preserve contexts and reduce our environmental impact, but also to give new life to places in meaningful and contextually relevant ways through the act of adaptive reuse.

On a pleasant Spring evening in April we hosted our Design Awards Gala Summer Party at Denys Lasdun's brutalist masterpiece of the Royal College of Physicians on Regent's Park. Our members were delighted to be joined by many colleagues and friends from the RIBA, allied professions, and the media. After fine canapes and free-flowing drinks in the gardens, accompanied by the performances of two exceptional classical musicians from the Royal College of Music, the awards were presented to the following winners:

• 'Beyond The Brief': Walters & Cohen Architects for Godolphin & Latymer School's Dining, Library and Sixth Form Centre, London, England

• 'Outstanding Conservation Project': Moxon Architects for the restoration of Queen Victoria's Picnic Lodge, Balmoral, Scotland

• 'Outstanding Small Project': ConForm Architects for the Terzetto Apartment, London, England

• 'Innovation & Beauty': Tonkin Liu for the Tower of Light, Manchester, England

• 'Outstanding Place to Commute': Grimshaw Architects for the Elizabeth Line site-wide design, London, England

• 'Outstanding Adaptive Reuse': Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for their design and masterplanning roles at Norton Folgate, London, England

(The jurors' comments on the winners can be found on our Design Awards 2025 website page)

Following the awards ceremony, the party continued in the Royal College and its gardens.   

Ultimately our 2025 Excellence in Design Awards were a communal coming together to reassert the vital importance of architects and thoughtful architectural design to improve the world in which we all share.  They were a celebration of UK design work across scales and typologies that actively engages with its various contexts and communities as sustainably as possible to positively impact how we live, work, rest, and play everyday, and so help to shape a better world for all.

Our Design Awards are the result of the hard work of many people for many months behind the scenes. We would like to express particular thanks to: our jurors for their dedication, time, and commitment; all the entrants for their time and effort in applying; the Royal College of Physicians for hosting us and providing excellent canapes and drinks; the AIA Board for all their input, help, and logistical support - especially our Vice President Adelina Kolkeva, President Mark E Breeze, Sponsorship Directors Michael Lischer and David Martin, Social Media Director Fiona Edwards, Graphics Director Jamar Rock, and our Chapter Executive Genie Khmelnitski; and lastly, and very importantly, our generous ongoing headline sponsor for the event, Iris Ceramica Group, who have continued to comprehensively and generously support our Design Awards, making it a key signature event in the year.