The Don't Move, Improve 2025 winners are here – revealing Elemental House by Archmongers as Home of the Year. Awarded the 2025 top spot in the London home improvements competition, the 20th-century split-level property in Clapton had been untouched since the 1970s, but has now been transformed into a comfortable, contemporary family home with a Danish twist.
‘We knew the house had the right DNA to become a special place to live, but it turned out to be an even stronger framework than expected, with the house itself guiding the significant transformation, deploying bold forms and honest self-finished materials to enhance what was originally there,’ Archmongers director Johan Hybschmann told us when interviewed. ‘It was rewarding to work in this way and although the house has been radically changed, it still very much feels like the same house, nestled in its terrace.’
Elemental House by Archmongers
More winners from the 14 contenders in the Don't Move, Improve 2025 shortlist include a range of urban homes that meaningfully improve the quality of life of each scheme's inhabitants, through delight and eco-sensitive architectural ingenuity.
Federico Ortiz, head of programme at architectural organisation NLA, which runs the contest, said of the overall winner by Archmongers: ‘The architects have skilfully hollowed out the existing structure, creating unexpected volumes and flows that seamlessly integrate with the house’s original heritage. The inversion of the stairs, the removal of the garage, and the subtle manipulation of sections are all brilliant yet restrained moves. The use of recycled materials has created an environmentally conscious space that is both functional and homely. It’s a profoundly intelligent approach that remains grounded, never showy – simply exemplary.'
This announcement marks the end of one more cycle of the popular, VitrA-sponsored event. Last year's winner, Aden Grove, was a Don't Move, Improve 2024 standout submission for its dynamism, energy efficiency and personality. This year, the competition attracted a pool of 150 entries. Here are all the winners.
Don't Move, Improve 2025: the winners
Home of the Year & Materiality and Craftmanship Prize: Elemental House by Archmongers Architects
Archmongers’ Elemental House redesigns a 1970s terraced property in London’s Hackney into a functional, light-filled, Scandinavian-inspired family home.
Environmental Prize: Nina's House by Nina+Co with ROAR
Textures and natural materials make this house in South Tottenham a real sanctuary, with improved air tightness and an open-plan approach.
Transformation Prize & Best Kitchen Design: Steel House by EBBA Architects
EBBA architects’ Camden house renovation and double-height extension transform life in a London terraced home.
Compact Design Prize: Hartley House by THISS Studio
An eco-conscious reimagining of a Victorian terraced home for a growing London family, THISS Studio’s Hartley House is a celebration of sustainable, spacious living.
Cost Effective Prize: Hands-on Home by Natallia Tanko
This is a bold Lewisham self-build project that gradually extended and renovated a 1970s ground-floor flat.
Best Interior Design & Best Outdoor Space: RAW House by O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects
A Lambeth home is reimagined for its owners' current need for a hybrid work/live space through a softly textured material palette.
People's Choice Award: Terzetto by ConForm Architects
Terzetto is a 97.7 sq m two-bedroom lower-ground flat in a four-storey Victorian mansion block. It has the classic bay window onto the street, and its own big garden at the back.
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
A local’s guide to Los Angeles by defiant artist Fawn RogersOregon-born, LA-based artist Fawn Rogers gives us a personal tour of her adopted city as it hosts its sixth edition of Frieze
-
Shakara is a stylish new addition to London's West African dining sceneShakara, a new Marylebone bar and dining room, adds to the city's ever-more impressive high-end West African dining scene
-
This Hampstead house renovation in London transcends styles and periodsThe renovation of a Hampstead house in London by Belgian architect Hans Verstuyft bridges the classic and the contemporary
-
London’s Sloane Street has been transformed into a ‘green boulevard’Iconic shopping destination Sloane Street has had a facelift, now boasting wider pavements, enhanced seating and lighting, and a massive planting scheme
-
New book takes you inside Frinton Park Estate: the Essex modernist housing scheme‘Frinton Park Estate’, a new book by photographer James Weston, delves into the history of a modernist housing scheme in Essex, England
-
Conran Building's refresh brings a beloved London landmark into the 21st centuryConran Building at 22 Shad Thames has been given a new lease of life by Squire & Partners, which has rethought the London classic, originally designed by Hopkins, for the 21st century
-
Inside Powerhouse: The redevelopment of Lots Road Power Station, which once fuelled the London UndergroundThe twin-turreted building has followed in the footsteps of Battersea Power Station, being transformed into luxury homes and retail units
-
Sadler’s Wells East opens: ‘grand, unassuming and beautifully utilitarian’Sadler’s Wells East by O’Donnell and Tuomey opens this week, showing off its angular brick forms in London
-
2025 Serpentine Pavilion: this year's architect, Marina Tabassum, explains her designThe 2025 Serpentine Pavilion design by Marina Tabassum is unveiled; the Bangladeshi architect talks to us about the commission, vision, and the notion of time
-
We celebrate the emerging London architects to be excited aboutThese emerging London architects are some of the capital's finest ground-breakers, movers and shakers; heralding a new generation of architecture
