Architecture news · Shortlist announced September 16, 2026 · Winner due October 15
A campus, a textile factory, a former insurance headquarters and an art institution are the four finalists for the RIBA International Prize 2026. Announced on September 16, the selection brings Bangladesh and Belgium into a compact conversation about architecture’s contribution to everyday life.
The shortlisted projects are BRAC University in Dhaka by WOHA; Green Field Factory of Karupannya Rangpur Limited in Rangpur by Nakshabid Architects; Royale Belge in Brussels by Caruso St John Architects and Bovenbouw Architectuur with DDS+; and Z33 in Hasselt by Francesca Torzo Architetto. The winner is scheduled to be announced on October 15, following visits by the prize’s grand jury.
At a glance
- Subject
- Architecture
- Editorial series
- Field Notes
- Story format
- Brief
- Published
- September 17, 2026
- Reading time
- 3 min read
At BRAC University, RIBA’s project record describes a campus organized vertically above a public park. Breezeways, planted spaces and a compact section address the conditions of a dense tropical city. Academic life shares the building with places for recreation and gathering, giving the university a civic role beyond its teaching rooms.
Green Field Factory brings gardens, courtyards and spaces for rest into an industrial workplace. Royale Belge approaches an existing building from another direction, adapting a modernist office landmark to accommodate hospitality and work. Together, they make occupation and continued use central to the shortlist’s architectural argument.
Z33 offers the most intimate account of that relationship. RIBA’s project documentation describes an extension connected to the existing museum and its historic garden setting. Rooms vary in proportion and light; a largely closed street elevation gives way to openings facing the garden. The architecture builds a sequence of encounters around the work on display.
At BRAC University, RIBA’s project record describes a campus organized vertically above a public park.
For the Journal, the useful thread is how these buildings distribute attention. A route through a campus, a pause during a working day and a threshold before a gallery all require design decisions. Reading the shortlist through those moments makes room for qualities that a single exterior photograph cannot explain.
The award remains undecided. This week’s news is the selection itself, and the opportunity to examine four different answers to a shared brief: making substantial architecture that supports the people who use it.
