Chapel of Music by Vector Architects. Image credit: Arch-Exist
The Royal Institute of British Architects has revealed the shortlist for the RIBA International Awards 2026. The 52 projects were chosen to “highlight design that tackles global challenges, including climate change, limited resources, social equity, and rapid urban growth.”
The entries on the shortlist range from net-zero industrial hubs to refugee art centers and feature high-profile architecture firms such as Foster + Partners and Chipperfield Architects alongside noteworthy boutique firms such as MAKER architecten and Studio Mumbai.
“The RIBA International Awards for Excellence celebrate incredible diversity and creativity across the world,” Awards Group Chair Neil Gillespie said about the shortlist. “These projects show how architects can respond to complex social, cultural, and environmental challenges, from revitalizing communities and preserving heritage to pioneering sustainable and technologically innovative solutions.”
The winners will be announced on June 11th. In the meantime, the full shortlist in alphabetical order is as follows:
Beijing Library by Snøhetta and East China Architectural Design & Research Institute. Image credit: Yumeng Zhu
Architects’ Studio by O’Donnell + Tuomey (Dublin, Ireland)Beijing Library by Snøhetta and East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (Beijing, China)Beijing Performing Arts Center by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Perkins & Will (Beijing, China)Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre by Hassell (Yumbe District, Uganda)
Burnt Earth Beach House by Wardle. Image credit: Willem Dirk du Toit
BRAC University by WOHA (Dhaka, Bangladesh)Burnt Earth Beach House by Wardle (Anglesea, Australia)Chapel of Music by Vector Architects (Qinghuangdao, China)Château de Beaucastel by Studio Mumbai and Studio Méditerranée (Courthézon, France)
Church of the Living God by Angelo Candalepas and Associates. Image credit: Rory Gardiner
Church of the Living God by Angelo Candalepas and Associates (Hurstville NSW, Australia)Darlington Public School by fjcstudio (Sydney, Australia)Dokebi Platform by Plot Architects (Seoul, Korea, Republic of)DY Patil Centre of Excellence by Foster + Partners (Maharashtra, India)
GREEN HILL – Transforming Closed Technological Industrial Remains into an Open and Shared Ecological Complex by Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd. Image credit: ZY Architectural Photography
Foreign Language School Affiliated to Longhua Academy of Educational Sciences by Unitinno Architectural Technology Development Company Limited (Shenzhen, China)Gold Creek by Brian Steendijk and Glenn Murcutt in collaboration (Brookfield, Brisbane, Australia)GREEN HILL – Transforming Closed Technological Industrial Remains into an Open and Shared Ecological Complex by Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China)House of Memories by Studio Gravitas in collaboration with Eleemente & Bodh Design Group (Tumkur, India)
KinderKunstLabor by Schenker Salvi Weber. Image credit: Patrick Johannsen
Jingyang Camphor Court by Vector Architects (Jingdezhen, China)KinderKunstLabor by Schenker Salvi Weber (St. Pölten, Austria)KON-TIGO by Manuel Cervantes Estudio (Guerrero, Mexico)Kunstsilo by Mestres Wåge, BAX, Mendoza Partida (Kristiansand, Norway)
MONOSPINAL by Makoto Yamaguchi Design. Image credit: East Facade
Mezcal Production Palenque by Estudio ALA | Armida Fernández and Luis Enrique Flores (Jiquilpan de Juárez, Michoacán, Mexico)MONOSPINAL by Makoto Yamaguchi Design (Taito-ku, Japan)Multi-Disaster Reduction Engineering Complex by Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd. (Jiading District, Shanghai, China)Nedarag Guesthouse by Next Office [Studio of Architectural Research & Design] (Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran)
OH HO Residence by Play Architecture. Image credit: Archana Vikram Arcana images
OH HO Residence by Play Architecture (Bangalore, India)Parikrama by SPASM Design Architects (Nandgaon, India)Ras Houses by Sanjay Puri Architects (Ras, Rajasthan, India)Revitalization of Village Heritage in Yong’an Village by College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University (Dali City, China)
Royale Belge by Caruso St John Architects, Bovenbouw and Architectuur with DDS+. Image credit: Stijn Bollaert
Rockbund Shanghai by David Chipperfield Architects (Historical Buildings) and Arquitectonica (New Buildings) (Shanghai, China)Royale Belge by Caruso St John Architects, Bovenbouw and Architectuur with DDS+ (Watermael-Boitsfort, Brussels, Belgium)School at Joram by Studio Advaita (Joram Village, Arunachal Pradesh, India)Service Station Under Wuning Road Bridge, Suzhou Creek by Atelier Z+ (Shanghai, China)
Shenzhen Energy Ring by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Gottlieb Paludan Architects. Image credit: Tian Fangfang
Shanghai Library East by Schmidt Hammer Lassen (Shanghai, China)Shenzhen Energy Ring by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Gottlieb Paludan Architects (Shenzhen, China)Sondara Gurukulam by Studio Advaita (Domri, Dist Beed, India)Štvanice Footbridge in Prague by Petr Tej, Marek Blank and Jan Mourek, Atelier Bridge Structures (Prague, Czech Republic)
Tenjincho Place by Hiroyuki Ito Architects. Image credit: Masao Nishikawa
Taoxichuan Ceramic Culture Industrial Park by Jie Zhang, Beijing An-Design Architects and THUPDI (Jingdezhen City, China)Tenjincho Place by Hiroyuki Ito Architects (Tokyo, Japan)Terra Cotta Workshop by Tropical Space (Quang Nam, Viet Nam)The GEAR by Kajima Design (Singapore, Singapore)
The White Renovation by Olgoo Architects. Image credit: Mohammad Ettefagh
The Plus by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Magnor, Norway)The Porter House Hotel by Angelo Candalepas and Associates (Sydney, Australia)The White Renovation by Olgoo Architects (Tehran, Iran)Transformation Warmbächli by BHSF Architektur & Städtebau (Berne, Switzerland)
West Wusutu Village Community Center in Hohhot by Inner Mongolian Grand Architecture Design Co., Ltd. Image credit: Inner Mongolian Grand Architecture Design
Urban Farming Office by VTN Architects (Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam)West Wusutu Village Community Center in Hohhot by Inner Mongolian Grand Architecture Design Co., Ltd. (Hohhot, China)Wood Up – 132 housing units, a climbing gym and a neighborhood café in Paris 13th by LAN – Local Architecture Network (Paris, France)WVDM Living Lab by MAKER architecten (Brussels, Belgium)
Zebun Nessa Mosque: A Spiritual-Social Space between Land and Water by Saiqa Iqbal Meghna / Studio Morphogenesis Ltd. Image credit: Asif Salman
Yaoli Village Courier Station by SuiPingYiLi Architecture Studio (Nanping, China)YIMBY (Yes In My BackYard) – Social and Urban Infill Project by MAKER architecten (Kortrijk, Belgium)Z33 by Francesca Torzo Architetto (Hasselt, Belgium)Zebun Nessa Mosque: A Spiritual-Social Space between Land and Water by Saiqa Iqbal Meghna / Studio Morphogenesis Ltd. (Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh)