Lion Green Road Housing Wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2026

A 157-home development in south London has won the RIBA Stirling Prize 2026, the UK's most prestigious architecture award. Lion Green Road in Coulsdon, designed by local studios Mary Duggan Architects with Ruff Architects, was named the country's best new building at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London this evening.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) selected the project from a six-strong shortlist revealed in July. It's only the fourth housing scheme to win the prize in its 30-year history, following Accordia in Cambridge in 2008, Goldsmith Street in Norwich in 2019 and Appleby Blue Almshouse in London in 2025.

What does the jury actually praise?

The jury credited the architects with "addressing the pressing need for national housing" and delivering environmentally considerate homes with ample access to light, nature and community.

"More than a housing development, the scheme has created a welcoming and inclusive place where people can connect with one another, and with nature," read the citation.

Croydon Council commissioned the high-density scheme, which mixes private and socially rented homes across five blocks. The buildings sit staggered across a steeply sloped site that was previously a car park.

How do you build on a slope that steep?

The answer sits in the plans. Each block has a faceted, star-shaped footprint, rotated so every home gets unique views across the landscape and dual-aspect orientation to maximise natural light.

Three complementary brick types clad the buildings. The trio visually unifies the five blocks while giving each one its own aesthetic. Shared green spaces weave between them, stitching the scheme together and giving residents places to meet.

RIBA president Chris Williamson said the scheme proves high-density housing "can be achieved without compromising the quality of the places we create".

"Through a consistent specification, with subtle variation in height and orientation, it offers housing at scale without uniformity," he said.

"The architects have created a new kind of garden neighbourhood that balances privacy and generous views with a strong connection to nature – it's a living landscape," Williamson continued. "This is thoughtful, resourceful architecture that proves that even the most challenging of sites can be transformed into truly distinctive places for people to call home."

Who won the Special Awards?

RIBA also handed out four Special Awards at the ceremony:

• RIBA Neave Brown Award for Housing – Satish Jassal Architects for Rowan Court, brick-clad social housing blocks in Seven Sisters
• RIBA Reinvention Award – Samuel Chisholm Studio and Takero Shimazaki for Oru Sutton, a co-working space in an old department store
• RIBA Client of the Year Award – Tonkin Liu Architects, recognised for the York Minster Centre of Excellence
• RIBA Conservation Award – Architectural Thread for The Buttermarket, an arts-focused community hub in Cornwall, which also took the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize for emerging talent

A second housing win in a row

The victory marks back-to-back wins for housing, after Appleby Blue Almshouse took last year's prize. That 2025 result drew criticism over London bias, with four of the six shortlisted buildings located in the capital — and with Lion Green Road also in London, that conversation is unlikely to go away. Previous winners include London's Elizabeth Line in 2024, The New Library at Magdalene College in 2022 and a seaside pier in Hastings in 2017.

With two housing schemes winning consecutively, RIBA is sending a clear signal about what it values most in British architecture right now: well-built, socially minded homes on difficult urban sites.