The Elizabeth Line has been named London’s Building of the Year 2024

London is a glorious mish-mash of historic and ultra-modern buildings, from the Gherkin to St Paul’s. Since 1966, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has been celebrating the most impressive architectural projects in London and the rest of the UK with its annual awards. 

This year RIBA’s London Awards shortlist includes a huge range of structures, from big-name schemes like the huge remodelling of Battersea Power Station to smaller projects like Dukes Meadow Footbridge, a low-carbon pedestrian bridge in Chiswick. The 40 projects were selected by a jury of experts, who visited each and every one. However, one project stood out as the most impressive, and was crowned as London’s Building of the Year. 

The winner was (drum roll, please) the Elizabeth Line! That’s right, London’s speedy, sprawling, 100km railway was commended for feeling ‘significantly different from other tube lines’ with ‘decluttered and calm’ spaces.  

The line opened in May 2022, and has already ferried millions of passengers across London. However, it hasn’t been a completely smooth ride, with £140 million being granted to help alleviate delays. Still quite the engineering feat, though.

While the entire Elizabeth Line won the prize, individual stations received praise, too: both Abbey Wood and Paddington stations were shortlisted for this year’s RIBA awards. Here is the full list of RIBA London Award winners for 2024. 

RIBA London Award Winners 2024

RIBA London (East)

• Chowdhury Walk by Al-Jawad Pike

• Fish Island Village by Haworth Tompkins, Lyndon Goode Architects, Pitman Tozer Architects, Bureau de Change

• Shakespeare Tower, Barbican by Takero Shimazaki Architects

• St Andrew Holborn by DaeWha Kang Design

• The Arbour by Boehm Lynas and GS8

• The Black & White Building by Waugh Thistleton Architects

• The Elizabeth Line by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation, Atkins

• The Learning Tree Nursery by Delve Architects

RIBA London (North)

• 22 Handyside Street by Coffey Architects

• Bradbury Works by [Y/N] Studio

• Brent Cross Town Visitor Pavilion by Moxon Architects Ltd

• Dover Court Estate by Pollard Thomas Edwards

• Hampstead House by Coppin Dockray

• King's Cross Masterplan by Allies and Morrison and Porphyrios Associates

• Sycamore House by Jonathan Wilson RIBA with Circle Architecture

• Unity Place by Design Architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects and Gort Scott, with Delivery Architect RM_A Architects

RIBA London (South East)

• 67 Southwark Street by Allies and Morrison

• Abbey Wood Station by Fereday Pollard Architects

• All Saints by EPR Architects

• Love Walk II by Knox Bhavan Architects

• LSBU Hub by WilkinsonEyre

• Peckham House by Surman Weston

• Rotherhithe Primary School by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

• Six Columns by 31/44 Architects

• Southwark House Renovation by VATRAA

• St John's Waterloo by Eric Parry Architects

• The Africa Centre by Freehaus

• The Tree House by Bell Phillips

RIBA London (South West)

• Battersea Power Station Phase Two by WilkinsonEyre

• Royal Academy of Dance by Takero Shimazaki Architects

• Somerset Road Covered Courts: All England Lawn Tennis Club by Hopkins Architects

• Sunday Mills by Assael Architecture

• Thames Christian School & Battersea Chapel by Henley Halebrown

• The Department Store Studios by Squire & Partners

RIBA London (West)

• Dukes Meadow Footbridge by Moxon Architects Ltd

• Leighton House by BDP

• National Portrait Gallery by Jamie Fobert Architects and Purcell
• Paddington Elizabeth Line Station by Weston Williamson + Partners

• Pitzhanger Hub by Jo Townshend Architects

• The Parcels Building by Grafton Architects

You can read more on the RIBA Awards on its website right here. All London Award winners will go on to compete for a RIBA National Award – those will be announced on July 11. 

More on London’s architecture 

From the recent makeover of this old wallpaper factory in west London to the news that the capital could be getting 600 new skyscrapers, we bring you all the latest on refurbs, glow-ups and brand-new architecture projects happening across the city. 

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