The AJ Architecture Awards 2026 housing and landscape and public realm shortlists are now public, with 123 projects competing across 21 categories in the ninth edition of the annual awards, which recognises the best built projects across the UK. Entries are now closed, according to the AJ Architecture Awards official site, and the judging panel is travelling the country to visit every shortlisted scheme in person.
Three-tier housing shortlist spans affordable to large-scale regeneration
Housing has been divided into three value-banded categories, each carrying a distinct character. The Housing Project (up to £10 million) category carries a six-strong shortlist, including the affordable Leon House scheme by Gibson Thornley, Metropolitan Workshop’s Arts and Crafts-influenced Farmstead Road homes in Lewisham, and the backland-site Honor Oak Park by Dowen Farmer Architects with Holloway and Holloway Architects. Also shortlisted are Edith Road by Satish Jassal Architects, Pine Place by Reiach and Hall Architects, and Trace by Bureau de Change.
Five projects make up the Housing Project (£10-20 million) shortlist. Bridge House by Studioshaw is a mixed-use development in Hackney Wick. Mountbatten View by Studio Partington, a Hemel Hempstead development, offers 100 per cent social housing. The intergenerational Melfield Gardens by Levitt Bernstein also features, alongside Albion Street by Bell Phillips with RM_A and Ebbisham Drive, Ashmole Estate, by FBM Architects.
The Housing Project (£20 million and over) shortlist is the most expansive, with nine entries. Practices represented include HTA Design, appearing with both Braund Mansions and Enclave: Acton; Maccreanor Lavington with Whittam Cox Architects for Conductor House and The Delamarre at Brent Cross Town; Assael Architecture with The Eades; Howells with The Octagon; Haworth Tompkins with Wembley North East Lands; Stephen Taylor Architects with ECE Architecture for Golf Links Estate Phase 3; RUFFARCHITECTS with New Road Triangle; and Tim Groom Architects with Lightbody Street.
Landscape and public realm: AJ Architecture Awards 2026 shortlist crosses infrastructure and urban design
Eight projects are shortlisted in the Landscape and Public Realm category, covering a range of scales and typologies. Falcon Road Bridge by GPAD sits alongside Stratford Waterfront at East Bank by Allies and Morrison with LDA Design, itself one of the most scrutinised cultural infrastructure projects in the country. The Queen Elizabeth II Garden by HTA Design also features. The full shortlist further includes Down Lane Park by Levitt Bernstein, Eden Campus Development Framework by Reiach and Hall Architects, Finsbury Circus Gardens by Realm with Studio Weave, Sloane Street by John McAslan + Partners, and Woolwich Town Centre Regeneration by LDA Design.
The diversity of the landscape shortlist, from a highway bridge to a formal garden, reflects the breadth of context within which public realm projects now operate: urban regeneration, active travel infrastructure, and civic amenity all appear alongside one another.
Judging criteria includes sustainability analysis
The judging panel brings together a wide range of perspectives. Open House founder Victoria Thornton, winner of this year’s AJ100 Contribution to the Profession prize, leads alongside Czech-born architect Eva Jiřičná; RCKa founding director Russell Curtis; Dow Jones director Biba Dow; V&A head of capital programme Ingrid Petit; Jas Bhalla Works principal Jas Bhalla; and strategist Daisy Froud.
Beyond stand-out design, the judges will consider how each project met or exceeded its brief, how it promoted client or community engagement, and how it excelled in the use of space or sense of place. Sustainability measures are also subject to strict analysis, with the panel assessing what environmental strategies each project has put in place. All shortlisted projects must have reached completion between 1 January 2025 and 31 July 2026.
The AJ Architecture Awards 2026 housing and all other category winners, together with three special award winners selected by the editors, will be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Royal Lancaster London on Thursday 26 November.
