The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has unveiled the shortlist for its 2025 Reinvention Award, highlighting four exceptional projects that demonstrate innovative approaches to building reuse and sustainable architecture. The award recognizes achievements in transforming existing structures to improve their environmental, social, or economic sustainability while reducing the need for demolition and new construction.
The 2025 jury sought projects that exemplified exceptional reinvention through regenerative and transformational approaches in both form and function, while making meaningful contributions to society and biodiversity. The selection process drew from winners of the RIBA Regional Awards 2025, with an impressive 51 percent of RIBA UK award winners this year representing refurbishment or conservation projects.
Julia Barfield, the 2025 jury chair and managing director of Marks Barfield Architects, emphasized the significance of this trend, stating: "It is testament to the welcome speed of change in the industry that 51 percent of RIBA UK award winners are for refurbishment or conservation and that the reinvention awards are to such high quality."
The four shortlisted projects represent diverse approaches to architectural reinvention across different building types and historical periods:
The Sheerness Dockyard Church by Hugh Broughton Architects stands out as a remarkable restoration of a Grade II-listed 19th century former church in Sheerness. The project transformed the historic structure into a vibrant community facility that houses a co-working space, café, and exhibition and events space. The building had previously been listed on Historic England's heritage at risk register after suffering severe damage from a fire in 2001. This project has already achieved recognition by winning the RIBA's South East Building of the Year 2025 award, demonstrating its exceptional quality and community impact.
The Entopia Building by Architype represents an innovative adaptation of a former 1930s telephone exchange located within a conservation area in Cambridge. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership to serve as their global headquarters, the building showcases remarkable environmental performance with astonishingly low energy use and meets rigorous Passivhaus standards. This project demonstrates how mid-20th century infrastructure can be successfully transformed into cutting-edge sustainable office space.
The Rhodes House Transformation by Stanton Williams involves the modernization and extension of a 100-year-old Grade II-listed Arts and Crafts building in Oxford. This ambitious project successfully doubled the building's usable space while completely upgrading its layout to foster a vibrant and diverse community committed to building a better world. The transformation respects the historical significance of the original structure while creating modern, functional spaces that serve contemporary needs.
The Knepp Wilding Kitchen and Shop by Kaner Olette Architects (with project architect Toko Andrews) presents a unique multi-functional redevelopment of a collection of decaying farm buildings into a sustainable series of spaces including a café/restaurant and farm shop. Located within the UK's first rewilding project in West Sussex, the scheme specifically aims at the restoration of nature through food. This rural reinvention project has gained additional recognition as one of the finalists for this year's Stephen Lawrence Prize, highlighting its innovative approach to combining architectural restoration with environmental conservation.
The Reinvention Award, which was first presented in 2023, specifically recognizes achievement in the reuse of buildings to improve their environmental, social, or economic sustainability. The award also serves to highlight retrofit projects that successfully reduce the need for demolition and new construction, addressing growing concerns about sustainability in the construction industry.
The 2025 jury includes several distinguished professionals beyond chair Julia Barfield. Stephanie Crombie serves as sustainability advisor from Supernatural Studio, while Leanne Tritton, FRIBA, represents Don't Waste Buildings as lay assessor. Edward Farleigh-Dastmalchi from fardaa, who was the 2024 Reinvention Winner, also contributes his expertise to the judging panel.
These shortlisted projects collectively demonstrate the growing importance of adaptive reuse in contemporary architecture, showing how existing buildings can be thoughtfully transformed to meet modern needs while preserving historical and cultural value. Each project addresses different aspects of sustainability, from energy efficiency and environmental performance to community engagement and biodiversity conservation.
The winner of the 2025 RIBA Reinvention Award will be announced at the prestigious Stirling Prize ceremony scheduled for October 16, 2025. This timing aligns the announcement with one of the most significant events in the British architectural calendar, ensuring maximum visibility for the winning project and the important principles of sustainable building reuse that the award represents.
The diversity of the shortlisted projects – ranging from a historic church to a telephone exchange, from an Oxford institutional building to rural farm structures – demonstrates the broad applicability of reinvention principles across different building types, locations, and community needs. Each project serves as a model for how thoughtful architectural intervention can breathe new life into existing structures while serving contemporary social, environmental, and economic objectives.
