Caruso St John, David Chipperfield Architects and Foster + Partners are among the 34 winners of the RIBA’s 2026 International Awards for Excellence

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Fosters picked up an award for its DY Patil Centre of Excellence in Maharashtra, India; Caruso St John for the Royale Belge multi-use building in Brussels; while Chipperfields won for its Rockbund redevelopment in Shanghai. Winners of the biennial award also include projects by O’Donnell + Tuomey, BIG, Snøhetta, WOHA and FJCstudio – the Sydney-based practice that has twice won the World Architecture Festival’s top honour. The RIBA said the winning schemes ‘demonstrated how thoughtful design can positively impact everyday life’ by addressing issues relating to climate, migration, housing, rapid urbanization or infrastructure.

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The awards were given to projects from across the globe. China boasted the most winning projects, with nine, followed by Australia (four), and Belgium (three). Schemes ranged from an art museum created from repurposed industrial containers to a chocolate warehouse turned into cooperative housing. All 34 winning projects will now be considered for the shortlist of the RIBA International Prize, the overall winner of which will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize ceremony on 15 October at Old Billingsgate, London.

The global gongs – officially the RIBA International Awards for Excellence aim to highlight design that ‘tackles global challenges.

The RIBA said that this year’s successful entries had exhibited a focus on climate-responsive designs and the use of local materials, as well as featuring ‘natural ways to cool buildings and lower their carbon output’. In the most recent previous edition of the biennial awards, held in 2024, 22 schemes were recognized, with the RIBA International Prize going to a ‘radical’ timber-framed social housing scheme in Barcelona by Peris + Toral Arquitecte.

Rockbund Shanghai, Shanghai, China, by David Chipperfield Architects (historical buildings) and Arquitectonica (new buildings)