In a series celebrating BD’s Architect of the Year Awards finalists, we look at the Retail and Leisure Architect of the Year shortlist
Earlier this year BD announced all the architects who made it on to the shortlists for our prestigious annual Architect of the Year Awards.
Now we are shining the spotlight on each category in turn and publishing a selection of the images that impressed the judges.
This year’s judges include: Yẹmí Aládérun, head of development, Meridian Water (Enfield Council); Amr Assaad, director, Buckley Gray Yeoman; Lee Bennet, partner, Sheppard Robson; Sarah Cary, chief development officer, White City at Imperial; Ben Derbyshire, chair, HTA Design LLP; Martyn Evans, creative director, U+I; Dicle Guntas, managing director, HGG London; Gavin Hale-Brown, director, Henley Halebrown; Tanvir Hasan, director emeritus, Donald Insall Associates; Lee Higson, board director, Eric Parry Architects; David Kohn, founder and director, David Kohn Architects; Oliver Lowrie, director and founder, Ackroyd Lowrie; Anna Mansfield, director, Publica; Jo McCafferty, director, Levitt Bernstein; Ian McKnight, director, Hall McKnight; John McRae, director, Orms; Andrew Mellor, partner, PRP; Sadie Morgan, director, dRMM; Setareh Neshati, director of regeneration and development – delivery and operations, Westminster City Council; David Partridge, co-founder, Senze; Manisha Patel, director, kpk Studios; Sarah Robinson, associate director, The King’s Foundation; Simon Saint, principal, Woods Bagot; Philippa Simpson, director for buildings and renewal, Barbican Centre; David Stansfield, senior partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; Amin Taha, director, Groupwork; Magali Thomson, project lead for placemaking, Great Ormond Street Hospital; Ola Uduku, head of school, Liverpool School of Architecture; Tatiana von Preussen, co-founder, vPPR; Richard Wardle, director, Stanton Williams.
Today’s shortlist is for Retail and Leisure Architect of the Year.
BDP
A £500 million football stadium and £120 million retail street comprise the entry from BDP. In Liverpool, BDP Pattern has completed a 52,000-seat new stadium for Everton Football Club on the banks of the river Mersey. In Canada, The Spine retail street is a key element of The Well, a mixed-use transformation of an industrial site in Toronto. The street is criss-crossed by metal bridges and sheltered from weather extremities by a lattice-like canopy.
FaulknerBrowns
The practice creates ‘places that function as catalysts for sustainable communities’. Its entry includes three sports centres: the new-build Lee Valley Ice Centre in London and Sportcentrum Zanderij in Ermelo, the Netherlands, and the proposed refurbishment of The Kings Hall Leisure Centre in east London. Blyth Market Pavilion is an ongoing new-build cultural and leisure facility north of Newcastle upon Tyne, conceived as a landmark that will enhance a sense of community pride.
Howells
The practice aims to design retail and leisure spaces that are ‘welcoming, invigorating and enjoyable’. This is exemplified by Tatton Motorway Services, a proposed next-generation, landscape-led service station in East Cheshire designed to create a healthy and uplifting visitor experience. A pavilion restaurant for the National Trust’s Hanbury Hall and the regeneration of Eden Dock at Canary Wharf as public space complete the entry.
Morrison Design
The practice’s entry showcases three hotels and a private members’ club, reflecting its expertise in the hospitality sector. It is nearing completion of both a transformative refurbishment of The Sloane Club in Mayfair and the new-build 95-bedroom Point A Hotel in The Liberties, Dublin. For Hilton, Morrison delivered new front-of-house space for The Trafalgar St. James London. Mornington Kensington is a 100-bed four-star hotel created from two adjacent hotels in Earls Court.
Roberts Limbrick
Four leisure centres are featured in the entry from Roberts Limbrick, which creates ‘spaces of all sizes that uplift and support communities’. These include the £92.4 million Sandwell Aquatics Centre in the West Midlands, initially designed for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and now serving one of the country’s most disadvantaged boroughs. Projects in progress include leisure centres in Kingston and Trowbridge, both all-electric community facilities.
Studio Moren
The hospitality specialist is showcasing projects that reflect its ‘commitment to exceptional guest experience, community benefit, local employment and environmental responsibility’. Wood Street Police Station in the City of London will transform the Grade II* listed buildings into a 216-key hotel, preserving stables and cells while introducing a central atrium and new public piazza. Hilton Olympia, a 905-key redevelopment planned for Kensington High Street, will be one of London’s largest new hotel projects.
>> Also read: AYA 2025 shortlists: Best Architect Employer of the Year
>> Also read: UK Design Capital of the Year: How Manchester is setting the pace for regeneration and urban living
Postscript
The Architect of the Year Awards are on Wednesday, 15 October 2025 at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, Grosvenor Sq, London, W1K 6JP.
Book your place here.
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