FUTURE CITIES FORUM Summer Awards 2026 winners and judges' views
- Jul 7
- 5 min read
Future Cities Forum is releasing its Summer Awards 2026 awards winners and runners-up across six categories with a selection of comments from the judges. The judging took place on 7 July 2026.
The judges were:
Hazel Edwards, Area Director (Senior Director) South East at Arts Council England,
Alice Barrois, Principal and Paris Studio leader at Grimshaw,
Yasmin Ali, Head of Capital Projects at the London Borough of Redbridge,
Petra Roberts, Assistant Director, Culture Heritage & Libraries leader at the London Borough of Hackney,
Elise Schneider, Senior Construction Project Manager (Granton Waterfront) at the City of Edinburgh Council,
Rachel Moulton, Regional Practice Director - Education, London at HKS Architects and Designers,
Amy Bourne, Associate and Healthy Environment Lead at Scott Brownrigg and
Alexandra Jonca, Associate in Buro Happold's Sustainability and Physics team. .
WORKSPACE Category
WINNER: Pall Mall Court - Manchester
The winner was Pall Mall Court, designed by Sheppard Robson, with runners up, the Thames and Hudson HQ and the Turing Building.
Yasmin Ali: The Turing stood out, I liked the outdoor terraces, and it is a very welcoming space and highly collaborative.
Alexandra Jonca: At Pall Mall Court, the scale of the sustainability strategies stand out, especially retaining the existing facade which blends seamlessly with the district. The project is impressive on carbon reduction. It is an excellent way of extending the life of a building that had become obsolete.
Alice Barrois: With Thames and Hudson, it is very nice to have a small scale project with human scale design, but I would choose the Turing as it has a good combination of mixed-use spaces.
Elise Schneider: The winner has to be Pall Mall Court, .It would have been so easy to have knocked this building down.
RUNNERS UP
Thames and Hudson HQ at King's Cross
The Turing Building at Stratford Cross, London
Image: V&A Museum East, courtesy of O'Donnell + Tuomey
CULTURAL Category (A)
WINNER: V&A EAST
The winner was the V&A East, Stratford, with runners up Kanal, Brussels and the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC.
Hazel Edwards: The development down at Stratford is amazing. I like the fact that the design is inspired by a Spanish couturier, Balenciaga, and the Japanese notion of 'Ma' - the space between body and clothing. The architects have pulled it off.
Elise Schneider: With the National Geographic, it felt like the whole ethos was echoed throughout, and the re-use of the materials is very important.
Alice Barrois: Kanal is an important heritage building and it is a lovely project, but I am choosing the V&A East.
Petra Roberts: The V&A East has real architectural excellence and opening up the museum curation to communities is very important.
RUNNERS UP
National Geographic Museum of Exploration - Washington DC
KANAL Centre Pompidou (Brussels)
Image: EDGE London Bridge - view to entrance and along St Thomas Street eastwards, with station entrance left (courtesy Pilbrow & Partners).
TALL BUILDINGS category
WINNER - EDGE LONDON BRIDGE
The winner was the EDGE London Bridge, designed by Pilbrow & Partners with Mace as constriction partner, and the runners up were 2 Finsbury Avenue and CityWave, Milan
Elise Schneider: With EDGE I am drawn to the materiality of the building which connects it to the Victorian era.
Amy Bourne: Well Platinum is really difficult to achieve on a building but EDGE has done it and I am impressed by the way they are committed to improving biodiversity around the building which doesn't happen very often.
Rachel Moulton: EDGE with its free workspace is impressive and the project has managed to get CLT into the building.
RUNNERS UP
Milan CityWave
2 Finsbury Avenue at Broadgate, City of London
Image: Western Sydney International Airport - courtesy of Cox Architects
AIRPORTS category
WINNERS
The Western Sydney International Airport (Cox Architects with ZHA) and the Techo International Airport in Cambodia (Foster & Partners) tied for the place of winner with Noida Airport (Grimshaw) in India as runner up.
Rachel Moulton: I felt Techo had a very calming aesthetic and the cultural values are carried through it.
Hazel Edwards: It was hard to choose between Techo and Western Sydney as the latter offers a very calm space, lots of timber, and use of colour. Western Sydney felt very much like a signature building. Techo is impressive for its self-sustainability measures and the modular construction which will allow it to grow in the future.
Yasmin Ali: Techno filled me with a warmer feeling as it aspires to be one of the greenest airports in the world. Visually this was the best project.
Image: courtesy of Foster + Partners
Techo International Airport, Cambodia
RUNNER-UP Noida Airport India
RETROFIT AND RESTORATION category
WINNER - Department, Carnival Parade
The winner was Department at Carnival Parade, Ryde, Isle of Wight, with the runners up Rochdale Town Hall and The Beacon, Bristol.
Petra Roberts: Carnival is a great high street renewal and the project honours its heritage.
Alexandra Jonca : Rochdale gets a lot of value from smaller interventions. It excels in activating public space, and going beyond the building's boundaries.
Hazel Edwards: Department in Ryde is complicated. There are two shops and the architects have honoured the heritage and importantly they 'meanwhile' tested the use of the building. At Rochdale Town Hall, outdoor terraces have been created, providing much more access. The project was also used as an opportunity to upskill local people in conservation and construction, craft. This is a very good legacy.
Department - Carnival Parade at Ryde, Isle of Wight
RUNNERS - UP
Bristol Beacon - formerly Colston Hall (Levitt Bernstein)
Rochdale Town Hall
CULTURAL CATEGORY 2 - Museums by the sea
WINNER - Larrakia Cultural Centre Darwin
The winner was Larrakia Cultural Centre, Darwin, Australia and the runners up were The Drift Museum, Amsterdam and Hull Maritime Museum, UK.
Alexandra Jonca: Larrakia had the strongest vision statement and the indigenous (people) consultation is very well integrated.
Elise Schneider: I really liked the use of cross-laminated timber in the Drift Museum which echoes the ribs of a ship.
Petra Roberts: The Maritime project in Hull has education at its heart but I wonder how well the different sites connect? I am quite excited about the Larrakia project for its economic and social value.
RUNNERS-UP
The Drift Museum, Amsterdam
Hull Maritime Museums
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