A total of 120 projects have been shortlisted across 19 categories for the eighth AJ Architecture Awards, the annual showcase of the very best built projects in the UK. The shortlists are being revealed over the course of this week.
Among the four projects shortlisted for Community and Faith is RCKa Architects’ recently completed community asset for Camden, Highgate Newtown, which features a public courtyard and hub, as well as 41 new homes.
The Cultural Project category features several recent headline-grabbing retrofits on the seven-strong list. Selldorf Architects’ long-anticipated and controversial retrofit of The National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing is on there, along with Cooke Fawcett’s light-touch Cockpit Studios in Deptford, AOC’s Yorkshire National Railway Museum addition and a Manchester railway arch-transformation project by John Matthews Architects – the latter three also shortlisted for the AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards.
Recent AJ Specification case study St Raphael’s Health and Wellbeing Centre for Mayfield School by Adam Richards Architects has been shortlisted in the Health and Wellbeing category, while the Leisure category features two major new entertainment venues for Manchester: Co-op Live and Printworks.
The expert judges, who are in the process of travelling the country visiting every shortlisted scheme, include returning judges Eleanor Fawcett of Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, Alpa Delpani, head of strategic planning and design at London Borough of Waltham Forest, fellow of Cullinan Studio Robin Nicholson and strategist Daisy Froud.
In addition to stand-out design, the judges will consider how each project has met or exceeded its brief, how it has promoted client or community engagement and how it has excelled in the use of space or sense of place. They will also strictly analyse what sustainability measures have been put in place. Each project must have been completed between 1 January 2024 and 31 July 2025.
The winners in the 19 categories, plus the three editorial-chosen awards, will be announced at a celebratory dinner event at another new venue this year – Royal Lancaster London – on 27 November 2025. More information can be found here.
Community and faith project
Highgate Newtown Community Redevelopment by RCKa Architects
- Highgate Newtown Community Redevelopment by RCKa Architects
- St Mary’s Extension by BARCX
- St Luke’s Chapel by hmad architects
- Y Muni by Purcell
Cultural project
The National Gallery – Roden Centre for Creative Learning by Lawson Ward Studio
- Cockpit Studios Deptford by Cooke Fawcett Architects
- Greenhill Building, Harrow Arts Centre by Chris Dyson Architects
- HOME Arches by Jon Matthews Architects
- Locomotion New Hall by AOC Architecture
- Soho Theatre Walthamstow by Pilbrow & Partners and Bond Bryan
- The National Gallery by Selldorf Architects
- The National Gallery – Roden Centre for Creative Learning by Lawson Ward Studio
Health and wellbeing project
St Raphael’s Health & Wellbeing Centre, Mayfield School by Adam Richards Architects
- Loveday Belgravia by EPR Architects
- St Raphael’s Health & Wellbeing Centre, Mayfield School by Adam Richards Architects
- The Portico by ADP Architecture
- Worthing Integrated Care Centre by ArchitecturePLB
Leisure project
Silecroft Beach Café by Konishi Gaffney Architects
- AELTC Community Tennis Centre by Langstaff Day Architects
- art’otel Hoxton by Squire & Partners
- Co-op Live by Populous
- Malvern Pool House by Klas Hyllén Architecture
- Montcalm Mayfair by Holland Harvey
- Printworks, Manchester by CDA
- Silecroft Beach Café by Konishi Gaffney Architects
The 2025 AJ Architecture Awards are sponsored by
