The 157-home local authority-commissioned development in Croydon was crowned the winner of the UK prestigious architecture award at a ceremony last night.

The announcement had been slightly overshadowed by the BBC publishing the name of the victor 20 minutes before RIBA president Chris Williamson officially told the crowd gathered in London’s Old Billingsgate.

Commissioned by Croydon Council’s arm’s length housing developer, Brick By Brick, the five-block Lion Green Road development on the sloping site of a local authority-owned car park was described by Williamson and the judges as a ‘new kind of garden neighbourhood’.

Chosen from a six-strong shortlist, the scheme had been William Hill’s outsider to scoop the UK’s top architecture prize, with lowly odds of 6/1.

The ‘surprise’ result did not please the bookmaker. A spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: ‘There was a real turn-up in this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize, with outsider in our market Lion Green Road landing the award.

‘The South London suburban housing development was 5/1 outsider of the shortlist of six when the betting opened in July, but has ended up being our worst result on the book.

‘That’s because we saw 22 per cent of all bets on Lion Green Road, while the project accounted for 42 per cent of all money staked in the market, meaning we are left counting our losses after this year’s Stirling Prize.’

Although the bookies weren’t impressed by the victory, it seems the victory has been well received by architects and the wider industry.

Sarah Castle, co-founding director, IFDO:
‘Huge congratulations to Mary Duggan Architects. It is brilliant to see such a deserving project win the Stirling Prize. Yes, it’s an inspiring moment for female leadership in the industry, but first and foremost, this is just great architecture. The team’s vision for Lion Green Road stands entirely on its own merits as a world-class piece of design. So incredibly well-deserved.’

Hugh McEwen, director, Office S&M:
‘[This project] shows that delivering housing at scale can be people centric, nature centric, and of exceptional quality. Providing each apartment with uninterrupted views of the mature trees preserved on site through the pinwheel plan delivers something that is deeply considered while ensuring hundreds of people have homes. This is the type of development that councils, arm’s length developers, and public sites should be delivering.’

Jay Morton, director Bell Phillips and RIBA president elect:
‘A well-deserved winner. A brilliant example of how good design can achieve so much more on a challenging site. Public housing for the public good, creating homes that are aspirational, joyful and, most importantly, places we would all want to live. Surely that should be the ambition for every new home we build.’

Surely this should be the ambition for every new home we build

Neil Deely, co-founder and Partner, Metropolitan Workshop:
‘Lion Green Road is a very worthy winner of the Stirling Prize in so many ways. It demonstrates how brilliant the home building programme [Brick By Brick] was that Croydon Council conceived under the leadership of the inspirational Jo Negrini and Colm Lacey; council-led housing can deliver dignified, beautiful homes to a budget, and it confirms what I have always known since first year of architecture school: Mary Duggan is awesome.’

Satwinder Samra director collaborative practice, The University of Sheffield
‘Whatever your thoughts on the shortlist, a highly sophisticated housing scheme is the winner. Lion Green Road exemplifies why good housing for all should be an everyday occurrence. Thirty years on, the Stirling Prize still creates much needed publicity and debate for the profession. Long may it continue.’

Alex Scott Whitby, director, Scott Whitby Studio
‘What a fantastic achievement against such stiff competition, a project that shows great architecture’s ability to transform people’s lives on a modest budget, driven by a client body that should still exist and we should be making more clones of. Well done Mary Duggan and RUFFARCHITECTS for making something that could so easily in others hands be nothing.’

Chloë Phelps of Ground Practice and former deputy chief executive at Brick By Brick
‘Andy [Burnham], Matthew [Pennycook]. This is how you do it. What a scheme, what a journey. Mary and Paul bravo. Excellent to celebrate great housing in this way. Just a shame its not yet standard practice.’

David Mikhail of previous Stirling Prize-winning practice Mikhail Riches
I am thrilled for Mary Duggan and Ruff and our own clients at Brick by Brick, Colm Lacy and Chloe Phelps. It is wonderful to see a second council housing scheme win the Stirling Prize. It is a project that is big on social ideas as well as sculpture, materials, texture, colour, light, and shade, all whilst working within a relatively tight local authority budget. Bravo!

Doug Hodgson, founding director of New Works’
‘Mary Duggan’s phrase ‘a culture of dwelling’, is both poetic and urgent as the built environment seeks a new vocabulary to express our values; less defined by what the land earns, and more by what its purpose enables. Lion Green Road is a fantastic example of this innovation in the sector, showing how a deep collaboration between architect and client can redefine high density placemaking, by building a project brief collaboratively, they put these values at its core.
The result is a wonderful showcase for innovation, and especially how a generosity of activated landscape between an enjoyable family of identifiable buildings, carefully knits the community together.’

Alice Parker, partner in architecture at Ridge

‘What a brilliant result for public sector housing. With pressure to deliver more homes only continuing to grow, Lion Green Road shows that architectural ambition can be measured by social value and by how well a project improves daily life for communities, as well as by its visual impact.

‘The most successful projects tend to be those that intelligently respond to the challenges of the day – from rising costs and local housing needs, to complex constraints on delivery.’

RIBA Stirling Prize 2026 winner: Lion Green Road, Coulsdon, by Mary Duggan Architects with RUFFARCHITECTS

Source: Rob Parrish


2018 predictions: Will the profession continue to be marginalised?