A total of 120 projects have been shortlisted across 19 categories for the eighth AJ Architecture Awards, the annual showcase of the very best built projects in the UK. The shortlists are being revealed over the course of this week.

Among the four projects shortlisted for Community and Faith is RCKa Architects’ recently completed community asset for Camden, Highgate Newtown, which features a public courtyard and hub, as well as 41 new homes.

The Cultural Project category features several recent headline-grabbing retrofits on the seven-strong list. Selldorf Architects’ long-anticipated and controversial retrofit of The National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing is on there, along with Cooke Fawcett’s light-touch Cockpit Studios in Deptford, AOC’s Yorkshire National Railway Museum addition and a Manchester railway arch-transformation project by John Matthews Architects – the latter three also shortlisted for the AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards.

Recent AJ Specification case study St Raphael’s Health and Wellbeing Centre for Mayfield School by Adam Richards Architects has been shortlisted in the Health and Wellbeing category, while the Leisure category features two major new entertainment venues for Manchester: Co-op Live and Printworks.

The expert judges, who are in the process of travelling the country visiting every shortlisted scheme, include returning judges Eleanor Fawcett of Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, Alpa Delpani, head of strategic planning and design at London Borough of Waltham Forest, fellow of Cullinan Studio Robin Nicholson and strategist Daisy Froud.

In addition to stand-out design, the judges will consider how each project has met or exceeded its brief, how it has promoted client or community engagement and how it has excelled in the use of space or sense of place. They will also strictly analyse what sustainability measures have been put in place. Each project must have been completed between 1 January 2024 and 31 July 2025.

The winners in the 19 categories, plus the three editorial-chosen awards, will be announced at a celebratory dinner event at another new venue this year – Royal Lancaster London – on 27 November 2025. More information can be found here.

Community and faith project

Highgate Newtown Community Redevelopment by RCKa Architects

Highgate Newtown Community Redevelopment by RCKa Architects
St Mary’s Extension by BARCX
St Luke’s Chapel by hmad architects
Y Muni by Purcell

 

Cultural project

The National Gallery – Roden Centre for Creative Learning by Lawson Ward Studio

Cockpit Studios Deptford by Cooke Fawcett Architects
Greenhill Building, Harrow Arts Centre by Chris Dyson Architects
HOME Arches by Jon Matthews Architects
Locomotion New Hall by AOC Architecture
Soho Theatre Walthamstow by Pilbrow & Partners and Bond Bryan
The National Gallery by Selldorf Architects
The National Gallery – Roden Centre for Creative Learning by Lawson Ward Studio

 

Health and wellbeing project

St Raphael’s Health & Wellbeing Centre, Mayfield School by Adam Richards Architects

Loveday Belgravia by EPR Architects
St Raphael’s Health & Wellbeing Centre, Mayfield School by Adam Richards Architects
The Portico by ADP Architecture
Worthing Integrated Care Centre by ArchitecturePLB

 

Leisure project

Silecroft Beach Café by Konishi Gaffney Architects

AELTC Community Tennis Centre by Langstaff Day Architects
art’otel Hoxton by Squire & Partners
Co-op Live by Populous
Malvern Pool House by Klas Hyllén Architecture
Montcalm Mayfair by Holland Harvey
Printworks, Manchester by CDA
Silecroft Beach Café by Konishi Gaffney Architects

 

The 2025 AJ Architecture Awards are sponsored by