A pioneering model for later living – Appleby Blue Almshouse was recognised at last night’s RIBA Stirling Prize ceremony, winning both the 2025 Stirling Prize and the Neave Brown Award for Affordable Housing.
This five-storey building in Bermondsey provides 59 homes for older people and reimagines the historic almshouse for modern city life. With its Garden Court, rooftop kitchen garden and open walkways, the design fosters community as much as comfort – creating a place where people can truly live well together.
“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,” said this year’s jury chair Ingrid Schroder, Director of the Architectural Association.
Congratulations to United St Saviour’s Charity, Witherford Watson Mann, and the whole project team on this remarkable achievement.
The RIBA Stirling Prize has been awarded annually to the UK’s best new building since 1996. Appleby Blue Almshouse was chosen from a six-strong shortlist revealed in September.
