The RIBA East Awards 2025 are announced
The renovation of a 1930s Cambridge telephone exchange a seaside hub providing flexible community spaces and a welcoming medical research facility are among the 14 winners of the RIBA East Awards 2025.
Presented since 1966, the Royal Insitute of British Architects (RIBA) Awards set the standard for great architecture across the country.
Young’s Court Development at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, was named as winner of RIBA East Building of the Year Award 2025.
This is an infill scheme for Emmanuel College that aims to elevate the experience of student life, transforming the area into a vibrant hub of activity.
The jury praised the project for sitting “comfortably and effortlessly on site,” noting how it “subtly elevates the experience of student life.”
The members described it as a “model for how to conserve and enhance a historic place for future generations.”
Other RIBA East Awards 2025 winning projects included the Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog and de Meuron/BDP.
This is a welcoming, “triangular” medical research facility for AstraZeneca blending thoughtful placemaking with scientific innovation.
Sunspot by HAT Projects, described as a “joyful” seaside hub in Essex provides flexible units, a café and a market hall, offering a blueprint for regeneration to local authorities.
Knights Park by Pollard Thomas Edwards and Alison Brooks Architects, was also chosen.
This is a large, visually striking brick-built estate that delivers 249 net-zero homes and an eco-friendly public realm in Eddington.
And Dovehouse Court Almshouses by Mole Architects Ltd is a spacious, welcoming almshouse development for residents over 55 built to Passivhaus standards.
The Entopia Building by Architype, Feilden and Mawson and Eve Waldron Design was chosen as it is a clever reuse of a disused 1930s Cambridge telephone exchange.
Today it is a sustainable university and research building.
The 14 projects were selected by the expert jury, who visited all shortlisted projects.
Matt Blakeley, regional director for RIBA Central, said: “Congratulations to all the award winners in the East region.
“This year, the breadth of schemes recognised is a remarkable statement to the ambition and vision of the region.
“These projects exemplify not only admirable excellence in design and beauty, but also a bold commitment to architecture's vital role in our environmental goals and social impact.”
Speaking on all the UK Award winners, RIBA president, Muyiwa Oki, said: “This year’s winners exemplify architecture’s power to transform—turning spaces into places of connection, creativity, and care.
“Spanning the length of the UK and diverse in form and function, our 2025 winners show a deep sensitivity to place and a strong coherence of thought between all teams involved.
“Individually these projects inspire and uplift, but collectively, they remind us that architects do far more than design buildings, they shape the way we live, work and connect.”
RIBA East Award winners will now be considered for a highly coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced on July 10.
The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning projects later in the year.
*Photo by Paul Riddle