A Northumberland visitor attraction has been named the North East Building of the Year at a top level event celebrating brilliant buildings.
Presented since 1966, the RIBA Awards set the standard for great architecture across the country
Now, the jury has announced four winning projects at the RIBA North East Awards 2025, including the Ad Gefrin Anglo-Saxon museum and whisky distillery, a “Tardis-like” coastal conservation centre, the transformation of a Grade II listed former Newcastle department store and a carefully conserved micro-holiday home.
Ad Gefrin scooped two awards on the night - client of the year, and project architect of the year for Richard Elphick of Elphick Associates – before being named the overall building of the year.
The jury praised the project, which opened in Wooler in 2023, noting: “The building is clearly a labour of love. From the quality of the materials, construction and details, you can feel that every element has been crafted with care and precision. The building goes above and beyond to set a new benchmark for environmental sustainability.”
Ad Gefrin co-founders, Alan and Eileen Ferguson, said: “We are overjoyed at Ad Gefrin’s RIBA North East award wins. The site where Ad Gefrin sits has been in our family for generations, but was a derelict eyesore. We wanted to put something back into Wooler, a rural town that has been overlooked for decades. We wanted the wow factor that said to local people ‘you deserve the best’.
“From the minute you walk in and look up into the stunning curved atrium, the stage is set, and you know you have arrived somewhere special. Despite the complexity of combining all the different aspects of the business, there is an absolute harmony that flows through. We feel that we have a building in which staff feel pride and want to excel in; and a place where visitors immediately feel at ease.
“Richard has created the legacy we wanted. We have a stunning building which resonates with passion, care, inclusivity and respect. Noone walking into the building can fail to feel this from the moment they enter and for this we will be eternally grateful to Richard.”
Other winners on the night included the Farrell Centre, by Space Architects and Elliott Architects, based in Newcastle.
Judges said: “This centre is the first purpose-designed ‘urban room’, and has carved out its home in a Grade II listed former department store on the edge of the Newcastle University campus.
“The project is a collaboration between two architectural practices – an important vision of Sir Terry Farrell’s to ensure that both established and emerging practices were able to bring diverse views to the creation of the centre.”
Elsewhere, Rocket House by Napper Architects won the conservation award and small project of the year.
Rocket House is a micro-holiday home on the Northumberland coast that has been carefully conserved by its owner, after they discovered the importance that the little building had in national maritime history.
Judges said: “They found that historically there were around 300 rocket houses all over the country. A cart with a rocket attached to a line could be taken out across the field and the rocket fired into the ocean to rescue sailors wrecked on the treacherous rocks, pulling them back one by one.
“The client’s painstaking research revealed that these buildings are a rapidly disappearing part of our coastal heritage, with only 20 or so now remaining. A series of meticulous and sensitive moves have conserved the building for the future.”
Whitburn Coastal Conservation Centre by MawsonKerr Architects, meanwhile, is described as a “Tardis-like” conservation centre which provides a “calming” respite from the bracing North Sea.
RIBA North East jury chair, Amy Waite, associate director at Mikhail Riches, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s North East Awards. A diverse range of projects, they demonstrate the remarkable impact of great architecture. From a transformed former department store and a carefully conserved micro-holiday home to a rural distillery and a coastal conservation centre, each are a testament to the skills and collaboration of everyone involved.”
RIBA North 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 10 July. 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.
