The best building in London has been crowned for 2025

One thing about London is that it has buildings galore. There are weird futuristic towers, imposing brutalist monuments, gothic spires and centuries-old landmarks. The capital is an architecture enthusiast’s dream. 

Every year, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) celebrates the best newest additions to London’s architectural scene. This year, there were a total of 38 London buildings acknowledged at the awards, but there was one project that stood out above the rest. Tower Hamlets Town Hall was crowned the RIBA London Building of the Year 2025. 

RECOMMENDED: The 50 best buildings in London. 

The award-winning town hall sits in the former Royal London Hospital, which was part of Whitechapel Road’s DNA for more than 250 years. The hospital relocated in 2012, leaving the Grade II-listed building empty and derelict, but then, Tower Hamlets borough council bought the the building in 2015 and called in architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) to convert it into its new headquarters.

The £124.75m transformation was completed in 2023. AHMM combined original parts of the building with new, more modern additions. The Grade II-listed 1906 staircases are still there and many original features of the operating theatres, now used as meeting rooms, remain. More reminders of the former hospital include exposed old brickwork and neoclassical windows. 

RIBA judges lauded Tower Hamlets Town Hall for being a ‘tour de force of reinvention, combining a sensitivity to the existing building’s story with a sharpness of contemporary detailing’. They called the conversion ‘sensitive and brave, creating a modern, civic home for council administration, local services and democracy’. Here are some more pics of the place. 

Other buildings included in the RIBA London Awards 2025 include the Young V&A in Bethnal Green, the renovation of Elizabeth Tower and the London College of Fashion in Stratford. Here’s the full list of winners. 

RIBA London Award Winners 2025

East 

• The Gilbert and George Centre, Spitalfields
• Young V&A, Bethnal Green
• Tower Court, Stamford Hill
• 8 Bleeding Heart Yard, Farringdon
• Mary Ward Centre, Stratford
• Becontree Avenue, Dagenham
• Catching Sun House, Walthamstow 
• London College of Fashion, Stratford
• St Mary’s Walthamstow, east London
• Central Foundation Boys’ School, Islington
• Tower Hamlets Town Hall, Whitechapel

North 

• Maitland Park Estate Redevelopment, Camden
• New Wave House, Brent 
• Haringey Brick Bungalow, Haringey
• Technique, Islington
• Pine Heath, Camden

Southeast 

• Sidcup Storyteller, Bexley
• Blenheim Grove, Southwark
• Citizens House, Lewisham
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Southwark
• Harfield Gardens, Southwark
• Idlewild Mews, Croydon
• WorkStack, Greenwich
• Design Distrcit C1 and D1, Greenwich
• Niwa House, Southwark
• Appleby Blue Almshouse, Southwark

Southwest 

• Lower Ham, Kingston-upon-Thames
• Costa’s Barbers, Wandsworth
• Royal College of Music, Westminster
• Elizabeth Tower, Westminster
• Chelsea Brut, Kensington and Chelsea
• V&A Photography Centre, Kensington and Chelsea 

West

• Quadrangle Building, King’s College London, Westminster
• The Greenhill Building, Harrow Arts Centre, Harrow 
• Chancery House, City of London
• Soho Place, Westminster
• Hallelujah Project, Westminster
• Daventry House, Westminster

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