RIBA National Awards 2019 winners: Royal Opera House, Southbank Centre and London Bridge Station are among the UK's best buildings

The Royal Opera House, The Southbank Centre and London Bridge Station are among the UK’s best buildings for 2019, beating other London buildings to the top spots.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of the RIBA National Awards 2019 for architecture.

Of the 54 buildings on the list of winners, 23 are in London. The Royal Opera House's new entrance made the cut, as did a £35 million restoration of The Southbank Centre.

Other London buildings to win the national award include London Bridge Station, Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, Alexandra Palace and Television Centre in White City.

Buildings in Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cambridge and Manchester also made the list.

The nationwide awards recognise the best of British architecture this year, with places of historic interest and redeveloped cultural spaces among the best UK buildings.

RIBA president Ben Derbyshire said that this year's RIBA awards recognises some exemplary schemes of architecture, with 20 of the projects renovations of existing buildings.

"I am particularly heartened that more than one third of our winners have creatively adapted existing buildings," he said.

"Given the scale of the global environmental challenge, we must encourage sustainable development and investment in buildings of the highest quality – projects that will inspire and meet the needs of generations to come."

The 54 buildings will now be whittled down to find the UK's best new building, the RIBA Stirling Prize. The shortlist of six buildings will be announced on July 18 and the RIBA Stirling Prize winner will be revealed on October 8.

The three-year transformation of the Royal Opera House, one of London’s most prestigious buildings, includes a svelte new glass entrance, framed in slender stainless steel and designed by Stanton Williams Architects.

The airy new entrance replaces a dreary, windowless wall. Now passers-by can see straight into the 11,000sq ft foyer – and can stroll in and enjoy it.

The £35 million restoration of the Southbank Centre also made the list.

The Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios redesign includes a revamp of the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room.

The Hayward Gallery has been given a new pyramid roof to allow natural light back into the gallery.

Completed in January 2018, the £1 billion regeneration of London Bridge Station by Grimshaw Architects is the biggest railway upgrade since Victorian times.

The station now features a huge 15-platform concourse bigger than the pitch at Wembley and a smart new frontage which can be admired from Tooley Street.

Coal Drops Yard, by Heatherwick Studio, is a retail hub in the converted Victorian coal stores in King's Cross.

Part of the massive King's Cross regeneration, the space has shops from new and established designers alongside restaurants and bars.

The gabled roof of each building rises up, stretching towards the other to form a 'kissing point' — and a new upper storey with an elevated viewpoint over London.

The five year transformation of the Grade I-listed Bristol Old Vic by architects Haworth Tompkins includes a new front of house space and studio theatre, opening the foyer up to the public as a covered communal space.

Featuring a mix of structural timber and glass, there are mezzanine galleries and viewing platforms for audience members to make the most of the new space, while the façade of the Georgian auditorium, illuminated by a large light well, is now visible from the street for the first time.

Legendary house and art gallery Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge reopened in February last year after a £11 million revamp by Jamie Fobert Architects.

Now part of the University of Cambridge, new contemporary galleries, a new entrance and welcome area have been added while keeping the spirit of the original house, once home to curator and art collector Jim Ede.

The only surviving tea rooms designed entirely by Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, this Art Nouveau building has been sympathetically restored by Simpson & Brown.

The architects have extended the space by combining it with the building next door, transforming The Willow into an accompanying visitor experience, with shop, education and conference space.

This major architectural artwork by Mark Wallinger, in collaboration with Studio Octopi, was commissioned by The National Trust.

Situated in Runnymede, Surrey, where the Magna Carta was signed over 800 years ago, Writ in Water is a cylindrical sculpture celebrating democracy and provides a space for visitors to reflect and contemplate in the Surrey countryside.

Take a look at our gallery above for the full list of the RIBA National Awards winners.