Hallelujah Project
by Peregrine Bryant Architects
Client Handel Hendrix House
Award RIBA London Award 2025 and RIBA London Conservation Award (sponsored by Velux)
The award winner tells us: "Handel Hendrix House presents the homes of George Frideric Handel who lived at no.25 from 1723 until his death in 1759 and Jimi Hendrix who moved into an adjoining flat in 1968. The buildings are presented as an evolving celebration of their lives, sharing their music and collections to provide enjoyment, inspiration and education.
The 2022 to 2023 building works restored and united both buildings to the forms the musicians occupied so their stories can be better told. Handel’s historic ground and lower-ground floors and the Brook Street façade were reinstated, the lightwell reopened, and the railings installed. Converting retail space back to its post-Great Fire of London plan form required significant alteration, removing structural changes while being mindful of the budget and the challenges of a tight central London site and of working with a Grade I listed building."
The jury says: "The layout of Handel’s lower-ground-floor kitchen was reinstated as it had been 300 years ago. Where replacements were required, the team sourced reclaimed flagstones and timbers from similarly aged buildings, ensuring that the provenance was recorded on the underside of the element before relaying. The client team placed very significant weight on ensuring that the entry point was repositioned from where it had been at the rear of the property to the street front, so that wheelchair users can enjoy visiting the house as easily as the able-bodied.
This project was impressive in so many ways. The team has secured the future of a cultural gem that was previously lost, having been altered beyond recognition."
Read the full citation from the RIBA Awards Jury on RIBA Journal
Contractor Messenger Construction
Project management Glevum Consulting
Structural engineer Hockley and Dawson
Quantity surveyor/cost consultant GE Sharpe and Company
Environmental/M&E engineer QODA
Lighting design QODA Light
Museum interpretation designer Outside Studios
Gross internal area 830.33m²
