Shortlisted entries 2026

Duck End Barns

A high-performance private home designed as a long-term, adaptable place to live. Set within the Green Belt, Duck End Barns combines Passivhaus-led design, net-positive energy ambition and rigorous detailing to deliver comfort, resilience and exceptionally low energy demand.

Cottenham Village Hall

Demolition of existing single storey village hall and construction of new two storey village hall in the same location within Cottenham's Recreation Ground. Extension to car park and ancillary development.

Image credits left to right: Richard Fraser Photography; Professional architectural photographer commissioned by Wilby & Burnett LLP

Hinsley Lane

This Passivhaus-certified scheme for St John’s College, provides 245 student rooms in 39 townhouses, arranged as terraces around shared gardens, and a new central lane. The terraces are occupied by St John’s, Clare Hall and Lucy Cavendish Colleges.

Aylesborough Close, Arbury, Cambridge CB4 2HS

Aylesborough Close has replaced 36 outdated council homes with 70 low-carbon council homes. Comprising one to three-bedroom apartments across three low-rise buildings, every home has a private balcony or terrace.

Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge

The Ray Dolby Centre is a world-leading research facility delivering stringent technical performance, and a public-facing hub for collaborative work and study. Central to the emerging Cambridge West Innovation District, it represents a leap forward for science in the UK.

Cambridge City Council Operational Hub – Public sector

A new dedicated facility for Cambridge City Council’s services, which includes the refurbishment, repurpose and extension of an existing Council asset. The project provides flexible high-quality office accommodation, supporting the Council's Net Zero and sustainability aspirations.

Image credits from left to right: FredHowarth_Photograph; unknown; Kilian O'Sullivan; Andy Perkins

Remodelling and decarbonisation of a house designed by M H Baillie Scott

Remodelling, renovation and thermal upgrade of a grade II Listed house including a single storey extension. The project balances conservation of the fabric and character of this Baillie Scott house while making a significant improvement to energy efficiency and inclusive access.

Vinery Road Office

This highly sustainable, adaptive reuse and conversion of a warehouse into an office in a restricted residential site, enclosed by terraced housing and private gardens, involved the innovative use of natural materials and expressed structural steelwork.

Christ’s College, First Court – Refurbishment, Phase 2

Refurbishment of staircases H, I and K of Christ College’s First Court, as the second phase of a wider refurbishment programme; incorporating re-roofing, external and internal repairs, internal refurbishment, and minor layout alterations.

Ferndale Rise - A Cambridge 1930s semi reborn for a sustainable future

Reimagining energy-efficient housing, Ferndale Rise is a living case study designed to educate and inspire. Transformed from EPC D to carbon-negative A, this replicable retrofit shows homeowners the building blocks available for low-carbon renovation.

Image credits from left to right: Matthew Smith; Richard Fraser; Claude N Smith Ltd;  Cambridge Building Society / Gordon Lyster

Brooklands

Brooklands is Cambridge’s first major Net Zero Carbon in operation workplace campus, transforming an underused site into 6,000sqm of flexible, inclusive workspace. With contextual design, gentle density and a biodiverse courtyard, it sets a blueprint for sustainable urban growth.

1-11 Portugal Street - Postgraduate accommodation

Deep retrofit and extension of six Victorian terrace houses for St John’s College. The properties were degasified and their fabric upgraded. New extensions deliver larger amenity spaces and extra toilets for 43 postgraduate bedrooms.

The Arts Theatre Cambridge: A contemporary reimagining of an historic theatre

A transformative refurbishment of The Arts Theatre Cambridge. The project delivered a revitalised auditorium, upgraded dressing rooms and back-of-house spaces, replaced audio-visual infrastructure and lighting, refurbished public toilets and shopfront to Peas Hill.

Refurbishment and decarbonisation of the Erasmus Building, Queens' College, Cambridge

Refurbishment, accessibility improvements and sustainability improvements to this well-known early modernist Queens' College accommodation building on the river.

Image credits from left to right: Jack Hobhouse; David Valinsky; Philip Vile; Richard Fraser