A £25.1m social housing complex for the over 65s has won the Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious architecture award.
Appleby Blue Almshouse in Southwark, south London, was crowned the UK’s best new building at a ceremony held in London’s Roundhouse last night (16 October).
Described by the judges as ‘a provision of pure delight’ and a ‘pioneering model’ for later living, where care and dignity are embedded into the design throughout’ the development earned its architects Witherford Watson Mann its second RIBA Stirling Prize.
The 59-flat U-shaped development also took home this year’s Neave Brown Award for affordable housing, and earned its backer, United St Saviour’s Charity, the RIBA Client of the Year award.
Witherford Watson Mann previously won the Stirling Prize in 2013 for its revamp of the 12th-century Astley Castle in Warwickshire.
The practice, which was also shortlisted for Nevill Holt Opera in 2019 and for the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2023, joins only a handful of architects to have picked up the award on more than one occasion, namely: Foster + Partners, RSHP, Zaha Hadid Architects and Wilkinson Eyre Architects.
The other finalists for this year’s prize were Allies and Morrison’s ‘monumental’ new home for the London College of Fashion, the Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog & de Meuron/BDP, Hugh Strange Architects’ Hastings House, and Takero Shimazaki Architects‘ Niwa House in south London.
The RIBA said that Appleby Blue ‘radically reimagines the traditional almshouse, flipping the centuries-old typology by placing shared spaces at its heart to foster community and reduce isolation among residents’.
RIBA Stirling Prize jury chair, Ingrid Schroder, director of The Architectural Association, said: ‘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.’
She added: ‘By creating a radical and significant model that embraces co-living at a time where our demographics are shifting, Appleby Blue sets an ambitious standard for social housing among older people. Not only does it perform the rare act of freeing up accommodation while keeping residents embedded in their community, it shows that design, when infused with deep care, can meaningfully address the pressing issues of today.’
After hearing the news, Stephen Witherford, speaking on behalf of Witherford Watson Mann Architects and United St Saviour’s Charity, said: "Working closely and imaginatively with [the client], we’ve created an environment that reduces loneliness, encourages connection, and supports a good later life.
"The charity has made social housing aspirational, enabling people to grow old locally with the right support, benefiting both residents and the wider Southwark community.
"We’re honoured that the RIBA Stirling Prize recognises the power of architecture to create places that genuinely transform lives."
