The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, awarded annually—originally by the magazine Building Design from 2006 to 2018 and, since 2024, by The Fence—to "the very worst new building in Britain" completed in the preceding year. It was conceived as a humorous counterpart to the prestigious Stirling Prize, presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
History First run (2006–2018) The award was inspired by the Carbuncle Awards, which the Scottish architecture magazine Prospect (now Urban Realm) had been presenting to buildings and areas in Scotland since 2000.
Its name derives from a 1984 comment by Charles, Prince of Wales (now Charles III), an opponent of certain modernist styles and a defender of established architectural character, who described Ahrends, Burton and Koralek's proposed extension to London's National Gallery as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".
The Carbuncle Cup was launched in 2006, with the first winner being the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth, designed by Chapman Taylor. Each year the magazine announced a shortlist based on public nominations, usually in the same week as the Stirling Prize shortlist. The winner was initially chosen by free online voting, but from 2009 onwards a small panel of critics selected the recipient. The original run concluded in 2018.
Second run (2024–present) In 2024 the Soho-based magazine The Fence revived the award, with the first year recognising buildings completed since the final award of the original run in 2018. The jury for the 2024 awards comprised: Tim Abrahams (chair) – contributing editor, Architectural Record Vicky Richardson – FRIBA, architectural curator Cajsa Carlson – deputy editor, Dezeen James McLachlan – former editor, Icon Lucy Watson – commissioning editor, Financial Times Penny Lewis – lecturer, University of Dundee; co-founder of the Carbuncle Awards Charlie Baker – editor, The Fence
The jury for the 2026 awards comprised: Catherine Slessor (chair) – critic Phineas Harper – critic and sculptor Lucy Watson – commissioning editor, Financial Times Lev Bratiskenko William Pelham – co-founder, The Fence Bertie Brandes – screenwriter of The Moment
Winners and nominees First run (2006–2018) + Year ArchitectWinning work Nominees and works 2006Chapman TaylorDrake Circus Shopping Centre,PlymouthPage & Park for BBC Radio Merseyside, Liverpool FaulknerBrowns Architects for Ibis Hotel, Harbourside, Bristol CZWG for Lough Road Housing, Holloway, London Foster + Partners for Moor House, City of London S&P Architects for Nexus One, Swiss Cottage, London Rem Koolhaas for Serpentine Pavilion, Hyde Park, London Broadway Malyan for St George Wharf, Lambeth, London John McAslan/Dandara for St George's Island, Castlefield, Manchester Llewlyn Davies for University College Hospital, Bloomsbury, London 2007Stephen George & PartnersOpal Court,LeicesterPeter Redhead Architects for Holiday Inn, Westhill, Aberdeenshire Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for KX200, Pentonville Road, London Foster & Partners for More London, South Bank, London BBLB Architects with John Rocha for Orion Building, Birmingham Edward Potter Associates for Skydec apartments, Wandsworth, London East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Atkins for Treasure House, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire 2008EPR ArchitectsRadisson SAS Waterfront hotel,Saint Helier, JerseyBCA Architects for Aqua housing, Poole, Dorset Trinity Architecture for B-Central apartments, Bournemouth Allies and Morrison for Blue Fin building, Bankside, London Aedas for Bridgewater Place, Leeds Skidmore, Owings and Merrill for Broadgate Tower, Bishopsgate, London Bourne Parking for Walton Street car park, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire 2009Hamilton ArchitectsLiverpool Ferry Terminal,LiverpoolMake Architects for Amenities Building and International House, University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus Allan Murray Architects for Hotel Missoni, Edinburgh Pelli Clarke Pelli for One Park West, Liverpool One Calderpeel Carden Croft for Poundbury Fire Station, Poundbury, Dorset Dyer Associates for Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh, East Lothian Austin Smith Lord for Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury Halliday Fraser Munro for Union Plaza, Aberdeen Westfield Group for Westfield Shopping Centre, Shepherd's Bush, London Coogan & Co. for Woodlands Manor, Belfast 2010BFLSStrata SE1,Elephant & Castle, LondonT. P. Bennett for Bézier Apartments, Old Street, London East Ayrshire Council for Burns Monument Centre, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire Reid Jubb Brown for Haymarket Hub, Newcastle WDR & RT Taggart for St Anne's Square, Belfast Make Architects for The Cube, Birmingham 2011Fairhurst, Chapman Taylor and Wilkinson EyreMediaCityUK,Salford QuaysMolyneux Architects for Ebenezer Chapel and Housing Development, Brighton 3XN/AEW Architects for Museum of Liverpool, Liverpool Grimshaw Architects and Atkins for Newport Station, Newport, Wales Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, London Bond Bryan for Phoenix High School, Shepherd's Bush, London 2012Grimshaw ArchitectsCutty Sark Renovation,Greenwich, LondonAnish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond for ArcelorMittal Orbit, Olympic Park, London Andrew Smith Architects for Firepool Lock Housing, Taunton, Somerset Broadway Malyan for Mann Island Buildings, Liverpool IDP Partnership for Shard End Library, Birmingham Todd Architects and Civic Arts for Titanic Belfast Museum, Belfast 2013Stephen George & Partners465 Caledonian Road,University College LondonStock Woolstencroft for Avant Garde, 34–42 Bethnal Green Road, Bethnal Green, London K2 Architects for Porth Eirias Watersports Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales Hamiltons for Premier Inn (formerly General Lying-In Hospital), Lambeth, London Seven Architecture and Smeeden Foreman for Redcar Beacon ('The Vertical Pier'), Redcar, North Yorkshire 2014Sheppard RobsonWoolwich Central,Woolwich, LondonStride Treglown for Chancellor's Building, University of Bath CZWG for QN7 flats, Holloway, London 3DReid for Trinity Square, Gateshead BDP for Unite Stratford City, Stratford, London Broadway Malyan for Vauxhall Tower, Vauxhall, London 2015Rafael Viñoly20 Fenchurch Street('The Walkie-Talkie'),City of LondonFluid Design for City Gateway, Swaythling, Southampton Keith Williams Architects for Parliament House, Lambeth, London Robert Kilgour Architects for Waltham Forest YMCA building, Waltham Forest, London John Simpson Architects for Whittle Building, Peterhouse, University of Cambridge careyjones chapmantolcher (CJCT) for Woodward Hall, Imperial College London, North Acton, London 2016Hamiltons ArchitectsLincoln Plaza,Isle of Dogs, LondonMake Architects for 5 Broadgate, Broadgate, City of London RHWL for One Smithfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Intelligent Design Centre for Poole Methodist Church extension, Poole, Dorset Rolfe Judd for Saffron Square, Croydon, London Twelve Architects for The Diamond, University of Sheffield 2017PLP ArchitectureNova Victoria,City of Westminster, London Vivid Architects for 8 Somers Road, Malvern, Worcestershire SimpsonHaugh and Partners for Circus West, Battersea Power Station, London Cooley Architects for Greetham Street Student Halls, Portsmouth ESA Architecture for Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, Lambeth, London AHR for Preston railway station Butler Street entrance, Preston, Lancashire 2018BDPRedrock Stockport, Stockport, Greater ManchesterPace Jefford Moore Architects for 20 Ambleside Avenue, Streatham, London Boyes Rees Architects for Beckley Point, Plymouth Rolfe Judd for Haydn Tower, Vauxhall, London PRP Architects for Lewisham Gateway, Lewisham, London Signature Living for Shankly Hotel, Liverpool
Second run (2024–present) + Year ArchitectWinning work Nominees and works 2024Broadway MalyanLime Street redevelopment,Liverpool, 2018MATT Architecture for Ilona Rose House, London, 2021 Comer Homes Group for Mast Quay II, Woolwich Dockyard, London, 2022 Carillion for Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, 2022 Twenty First Architects for Virgin Hotel, Glasgow, 2023 Jestico + Whiles for W Hotel, Edinburgh, 2023 2026PHP Architects andPRP Architects(joint winners)Astley Warehouses, Astley, Greater Manchester, 2026 andThe Filigree, Lewisham, London, 2024Squire and Partners for art'otel London Hoxton, 2024 Pilbrow & Partners for Aspen Tower, Canary Wharf, London, 2024 Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for Belgrove House, Camden, London, 2025 Falconer Chester Hall for Central Quay, Cardiff, Wales, 2026 Willmore Iles Architects for Robeson House, Southwark, London, 2025 Leach Rhodes Walker for Triangle Yard, Leeds, 2026
See also List of architecture awards
References