2025 Neave Brown Award for Housing Shortlist, RIBA architecture prize news, Homes by British architects

2025 Neave Brown Award for Housing Shortlist News

31 July 2025

RIBA announces shortlist for the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2025

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the four projects shortlisted for the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2025. Named in honour of modernist architect and social housing pioneer, Neave Brown (1926-2018), the annual award, sponsored by VMZinc, recognises the UK’s best new affordable housing.

Neave Brown Award for Housing 2025 Shortlist

From projects addressing increased isolation in older people (Appleby Blue Almshouse) to the largest cohousing development in the UK (Hazelmead, Bridport Cohousing), this year’s shortlisted projects use exceptional design to address wider social and environmental issues, placing people and communities at the heart of their work.

The four shortlisted projects are:

Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects – A re-interpreted traditional almshouse in Southwark, designed to reduce social isolation for older generations.
Citizens House by Archio – A development of 11 affordable homes promoting interaction among residents and providing play space for children.
Hazelmead, Bridport Cohousing by Barefoot Architects – The largest completed cohousing development in the UK. The scheme comprises 53 climate-resilient homes, a common house, and shared green spaces.
Tower Court by Adam Khan Architects, Muf Architecture/Art and Child Graddon Lewis Architects – A Hackney Council-owned scheme to deliver affordable housing across 18 Hackney estates.

Jury Chair Dean Pike, Founding Director, Al-Jawad Pike, said:

“This year’s Neave Brown Award for Housing shortlist reflects the enduring relevance of Neave Brown’s vision – that housing should foster community, offer dignity, and be rooted in place. The jury was unanimous in recognising that each project responds, in its own way, to the social and environmental pressures shaping housing today – reworking familiar typologies and exploring new models of shared living and sustainability.

From urban almshouses and rural co-housing to community infill development and family homes woven into shared landscapes, each project places people at its centre. Through careful detailing, low-impact construction, and a close reading of context, they show what can be achieved within the constraints of contemporary housing delivery – affirming Neave Brown’s belief in housing as a civic, generous, and transformative architecture.”

The Neave Brown Award for Housing 2025 jury comprised: Dean Pike (Chair), Founding Director, Al-Jawad Pike, Claudia Lynch, Director, Lynch Architects, and Victoria Mack, step-daughter of Neave Brown.

The Neave Brown Award for Housing 2025 shortlist is selected from winners of the RIBA UK Awards 2025. The winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize ceremony on Thursday 16 October 2025 at The Roundhouse in London.

Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann Architects

Appleby Blue Almshouse, Southwark by Witherford Watson Mann Architects

photo : Philip Vile

Hazelmead, Bridport Cohousing, Dorchester, Dorset, south of England

photos © Rebecca Noakes

Citizens House, 11 affordable homes in Lewisham, London

Citizens House by Archio

Jury citation:

This development of 11 affordable homes was the idea of a group of tenacious residents who found the right partners to develop a dream. The architects, chosen by the community and residents through a public workshop, committed to full collaboration and co-design with the community.

The resulting building is elegant and well considered. Citizens House is located on a former backyard garage site in Lewisham that was also an unofficial pedestrian cut-through to adjacent housing. The building is a three/four-storey rectilinear block, set back to create a sun-filled public space locally named ‘the plaza’.

Defined by the colour of the paving, which matches the building, the plaza is carefully designed to provide a run-around space area for younger children, as well as some raised seating. Both of these aspects create a sense of place to encourage opportunities for social interaction between residents and the wider community, embedding community cohesion in the design. Ground-floor apartments have front doors off the shared outdoor space, and residents express their identity through small gardens which sit to the side of the public plaza.

A generous entrance leads through a covered passage, past a pram and bike store, to the external staircase that provides access to upper-floor apartments. Offset balconies provide sun and rain protection to the staggered south-facing windows of the floors below, creating a playful elevation. Internally, the homes are bright and flexible, with floor-to-ceiling windows, large balconies, and filled with natural light. The two-bed homes include extra-wide entrance halls, allowing for a dedicated space to work from home.

The building is clad in two types of white brick. Care has been taken in the proportions and detailing, including setting balconies in alignment with brick banding. The resulting elevations are subtle, harmonious and elegant. The building is a refreshing beacon in the neighbourhood. It not only provides badly needed affordable housing, but also gives positive, well-designed external space back to the community.

Tower Court – 132 unit scheme in Stamford Hill, London

Tower Court by Adam Khan Architects, Muf Architecture/Art, Child Graddon Lewis Architects

photo : David Grandorge

Tower Court is the product of an architectural team made up of Adam Khan Architects, Muf Architecture/Art and Child Graddon Lewis Architects, commissioned by Hackney Borough Council as part of its commitment to create greater density on 18 housing estates within the borough.

photo : Alan Williams

photo : Alex Solomon

Neave Brown

Neave Brown (1929 – 2018) was a modernist housing architect, best known for a series of housing estates in and around Camden in North London. In 2018 he was awarded the UK’s highest honour for architecture, the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, which was approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II. Recognition for Neave Brown came late in life.

His work in the 1960s and 70s was rejected for eschewing the high-rise norms of the time and instead – most notably in the case of Alexandra Road (1978) – focusing on a street-based alternative that placed an emphasis on communal spaces and shared facilities, whilst working within the constraints of local authority budgets and planning requirements and a dense and constrained urban context. His plans made clever use of space, creating capacious and generous rooms for occupants.

2025 Neave Brown Award for Housing Shortlist information received from The Royal Institute of British Architects 300725

Previously on e-architect:

RIBA announces shortlist for 2022 Neave Brown Award for Housing