The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has revealed the 52 projects shortlisted for the 2026 RIBA International Awards for Excellence. Celebrating outstanding architecture from 18 countries, the biennial awards highlight design that tackles global challenges, including climate change, limited resources, social equity and rapid urban growth.
The shortlist features projects from 5 continents, ranging from net-zero industrial hubs to refugee art centres. The list includes projects from global practices – including David Chipperfield Architects (UK/Germany), Foster + Partners (UK), Snøhetta (Norway/USA), Hassell (Australia) and WOHA (Singapore), alongside noteworthy boutique firms, including MAKER architecten (Belgium) and Studio Mumbai (India).
Neil Gillespie, Awards Group Chair, said: “The RIBA International Awards for Excellence celebrate incredible diversity and creativity across the world. These projects show how architects can respond to complex social, cultural, and environmental challenges, from revitalising communities and preserving heritage to pioneering sustainable and technologically innovative solutions. They demonstrate the power of architecture to connect people, strengthen identity, and create inclusive, resilient places for future generations.”
The winners of the RIBA International Awards for Excellence will be announced on 11 June 2026.
Culture and public spaces
Across the shortlist, architects reimagine cultural and civic buildings as places of openness, renewal and shared identity. In China, the Beijing Library and Shanghai Library East redefine the library as a civic landmark for the digital age, while in Norway, Kunstsilo transforms a former grain silo into a landmark art museum that retains its industrial past. In Uganda, the Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre acts as a vital cultural anchor within one of the world’s largest refugee settlements, supporting creative expression and local identity.
Adaptive reuse features strongly, from Rockbund Shanghai’s revitalisation of historic concession-era buildings into a mixed-use cultural district, to Belgium’s Royale Belge, which reimagines a 1960s corporate landmark as a flexible civic and commercial hub, extending the life of a modernist icon.
Community-led projects further demonstrate architecture’s social role. Bangladesh’s Zebun Nessa Mosque reinterprets religious architecture as a net-zero ‘breathing pavilion’, using light, ventilation and shared space to connect worship and community life. South Korea’s Dokebi Platform transforms an overlooked car park into a neighbourhood gathering space, and Iran’s Nedarag Guesthouse reworks traditional forms and materials into a shared courtyard building that supports hospitality, social ties and local economic opportunity.
Education and innovation
Shortlisted projects demonstrate how learning environments can respond to environmental challenges, social complexity and rapid urban change. In Bangladesh, BRAC University transforms a former landfill site into a lush, vertical campus shaped by passive cooling and landscape-led design. In India, Sondara Gurukulam employs a community-centred approach rooted in local climate, culture and social need, creating a light-filled, naturally ventilated campus of terraces and plazas that anchors the school within its landscape. The DY Patil Centre of Excellence integrates LEED Platinum sustainability with shaded courtyards, a two-acre sky garden and craft-led design to reinforce the relationship between wellbeing and education.
Several projects position schools as civic and cultural anchors. In Australia, Darlington Public School combines flexible learning hubs with outdoor spaces that reflect its urban context and Aboriginal heritage, embedding inclusion and local narratives into everyday learning. In China, the Foreign Language School Affiliated to Longhua Academy of Educational Sciences addresses acute educational demand through agile construction, using lightweight structures and circular layouts that create adaptable, climate-responsive learning spaces on temporary urban land.
Innovation also extends to using buildings as teaching tools. In Belgium, the WVDM Living Lab transforms at-risk modernist student housing into a live testbed for circular renovation, material reuse, and modular adaptability, prioritising process over fixed outcomes and reframing preservation as a collaborative, evolving practice.
Sustainability and housing
Housing on the shortlist tackles one of architecture’s most urgent challenges: delivering density, affordability, and environmental responsibility without compromising quality of life. In Mexico, KON-TIGO provides incremental infill housing that grows over time, fostering community resilience in a neighbourhood affected by Hurricane Otis in 2023. In Belgium, YIMBY (Yes In My BackYard) revitalises a former garden-city district through small-scale, participatory interventions that reconnect homes, green spaces and social life.
Several projects rethink urban living through adaptive reuse and low-carbon construction. In Paris, France, Wood Up delivers 132 timber housing units, a climbing gym and a neighbourhood cafe, reducing carbon emissions and setting a benchmark for urban development. Switzerland’s Transformation Warmbächli converts a former industrial warehouse into cooperative housing, prioritising shared living and resource efficiency.
Other projects respond to landscape, heritage and materials. Château de Beaucastel in France integrates low-tech sustainable strategies within a historic estate. In Australia, Burnt Earth Beach House uses handcrafted terracotta to anchor the building within its coastal environment, while Gold Creek embeds passive bushfire resilience into its design logic. In India, OH HO Residence reinterprets vernacular stone construction through a contemporary courtyard, and House of Memories translates personal narrative into a climate-responsive home.
Infrastructure and industry
Shortlisted projects show how infrastructure and industrial architecture can be sustainable, innovative, and socially engaging. Vietnam’s Urban Farming Office integrates food production directly into the workplace, challenging conventional separations between labour and landscape and redefining the office as a site of innovation. Norway’s The Plus sets new standards for carbon-neutral timber manufacturing, reframing the factory as both a workspace and architectural landmark. China’s Shenzhen Energy Ring, the world’s largest waste-to-energy plant, transforms heavy infrastructure into a civic space, combining public access, education, energy generation and landfill management.
In Mexico, the Mezcal Production Palenque combines vernacular craft traditions with ecological production methods, and the Czech Republic’s Štvanice Footbridge uses ultra-high-performance concrete to provide a fluid, durable, and human-scale pedestrian and cyclist connection. Collectively, these projects challenge industrial typologies, integrating infrastructure into the public realm.