Lion Green Road, a 157-home council housing development in Coulsdon, south London, has been awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize 2026. The scheme was designed by Mary Duggan Architects with RUFF Architects and built for Croydon Council by main contractor CField Construction under a £34m deal.
The development replaces a former car park and is arranged across five blocks. The site slopes steeply, varying in height by eight metres, and the arrangement of the blocks uses those changing levels and the views they create to form what the project calls a “living landscape” for 635 residents. It also establishes a new connection between Lion Green Road and a distinctive area of green parkland beyond.
What the jury said
Chris Williamson, RIBA president, set out the jury's reasoning in the citation. He argued that, at a time when more homes are urgently needed, the Coulsdon scheme shows that density can be achieved without compromising the quality of the places created.
- A consistent specification, with subtle variation in height and orientation, delivers housing at scale without uniformity.
- The architects have created a new kind of garden neighbourhood that balances privacy and generous views with a strong connection to nature.
- The result is what he called thoughtful, resourceful architecture, proving that even the most challenging sites can be transformed into distinctive places for people to call home.
Construction and carbon
The scheme's environmental claim rests on how it was delivered rather than on published performance figures. According to the project, efficient construction methods, simple finishes and a more streamlined building process allowed Lion Green Road to cut carbon emissions. No quantified figures for the reduction were given.
Williamson's citation returns repeatedly to the relationship between density and quality: 157 homes and 635 residents on a constrained, sloping plot, delivered through a standardised specification that is varied in height and orientation rather than repeated exactly.
The award places a council housing scheme, procured by Croydon Council and delivered by a main contractor working with two architecture practices, at the centre of this year's RIBA Stirling Prize.