A total of 123 projects have been shortlisted across 21 categories for the ninth AJ Architecture Awards, the annual showcase of the very best built projects in the UK. The shortlists are being revealed over the course of this week.
Heritage Projects have been divided into two categories: schemes costing up to £10 million and over £10 million, with 11 finalists altogether. Schemes in the latter group include Buttress Architects’ £11 million refurbishment of Station Hall at the National Railway Museum in York; Wright & Wright’s Lambeth Palace Masterplan; and Sheppard Robson’s retrofit of the Pall Mall office building in Manchester.
The Refurb category has six finalists, among them AHMM for 76 Southbank; the Sutton Estate by HTA Design; and Ark John Keats Sixth Form Centre in north London by Gibson Thornley.
Eight schemes are in the running for Project under £500,000, including Corriebeg by Moxon Architect, a house extension in rural Aberdeenshire; Float House by TiggColl, a house moored on the Grand Union Canal in north-west London; and Salt Salon Borough Market by Unknown Works, which combines hairdressing with club culture.
The expert judges, who are travelling the country to visit every shortlisted scheme, include Open House founder Victoria Thornton, winner of this year’s AJ100 Contribution to the Profession prize. Joining her are celebrated 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.
In addition to stand-out design, the judges will consider how each project has met or exceeded its brief, how it has promoted client or community engagement and how it has excelled in the use of space or sense of place. They will also strictly analyse what sustainability measures have been put in place. Each project must have been completed between 1 January 2025 and 31 July 2026.
The winners in the 21 categories, plus the three special award winners selected by the editors, will be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Royal Lancaster London on Thursday 26 November. More information can be found here.
Heritage Project (up to £10 million)
Doncaster Corn Exchange by Group Ginger
Source: Richard Chivers
Doncaster Corn Exchange by Group Ginger
Eton College Rackets Building by Hopkins Architects
Howell’s School Sixth Form by 310 Studio
John O’Groats Mill by McGregor Bowes
Heritage Project (£10 million and over)
Teviot Row House by Page\Park Architects
Source: Jim Stephenson
German Ambassador’s Residence in London by Seifermann
Lambeth Palace Masterplan by Wright & Wright Architects
Maison Dieu (Dover Town Hall) by Haverstock
National Railway Museum Station Hall by Buttress Architects
Norwich Castle by Feilden+Mawson
Pall Mall by Sheppard Robson
Teviot Row House by Page\Park Architects
Refurb Project
76 Southbank by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Source: Rob Parrish
1-11 Portugal Street by MCW Architects
76 Southbank by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Ark John Keats Sixth Form Centre by Gibson Thornley
Eden Mill Distillery and Visitor Centre by Opfer Logan Architects with Reiach and Hall Architects
Health Sciences Library by HLM Architects
The Sutton Estate by HTA Design
Project under £500,000
Boathouse and Bothy by WT Architecture
Source: Dapple Photography
Boathouse and Bothy by WT Architecture
Corriebeg by Moxon Architects
Float House by TiggColl
Milton Pavilion by Paul Archer Design with The Wilson Brothers
Radnor Road by Wright Office
Salt Salon Borough Market by Unknown Works
Southfields House by DO+CO Studio
Talbot Road by Emil Eve Architects
The 2026 AJ Architecture Awards are sponsored by
