This year’s W Awards are being celebrated at a free-to-attend evening event, at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture on London’s Bedford Square next week (Thursday 21 May).

It will include presentations by architect and reuse pioneer Barbara Buser, winner of the Jane Drew Prize for Architecture 2026, and painter Lubaina Himid, this year’s recipient of the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for Contribution to Architecture, who is also representing the UK in this year’s British Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale.

There will also be a presentation by architect Joel Sanders, a member of research project Stalled! which has been awarded the 2026 Prize for Research in Gender and Architecture.

The winners of the MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice and the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture will also be revealed at this public event. You can register for a free ticket here.

Event details

When? Thursday 21 May 2026
Time? 6pm to 8.30pm (welcome drinks from 6pm with the awards being announced from 6.30pm)
Where? The Architectural Association School of Architecture, 33 Bedford Square, London WC1B
Register for your free ticket here

The finalists for this year’s MJ Long Prize are Jennifer Pirie of Henley Halebrown, Natasha Huq of GRAS, Evelyne Vanhoutte of Sergison Bates and Rowan Seaford of Carmody Groarke. The shortlist was announced earlier this year in March.

This prize, named in memory of the inspirational architect MJ Long, celebrates UK-based architects who are excelling in practice. Last year it was awarded to Rachel Elliott, an associate director at Lynch Architects.

Meanwhile, the architects in the running for this year’s global Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture, which spotlights exceptional designers from around the world under the age of 45, are Hester van Dijk of Netherlands-based Overtreders W, Pooja Khairnar of PK Inception, based in India, and Jesica Amescua Carrera and Mariana Ordóñez Grajales of Comunal, founded in Mexico.

All the prizes form part of the AJ and The Architectural Review’s W Awards, which celebrate exemplary work of all kinds, from the design of the world’s most significant new buildings to contributions to wider architectural culture, from lifetimes of achievement to the work of women with bright futures ahead.

The AA is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. It regularly hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications through its public programme.