How Lion Green Road’s Design Won the 2026 Stirling Prize

What is Lion Green Road?

Lion Green Road is a housing development in Coulsdon, in south London. It was designed by Mary Duggan Architects with RUFF Architects for Croydon Council and won the 2026 RIBA Stirling Prize. ¹³

The scheme contains 157 homes in five blocks. It replaced a car park on a sloping site, and combines private homes with socially rented homes. ¹³

The site changes in height by about eight metres, making its slope a central design challenge. Rather than flattening the whole plot or placing one continuous building across it, the scheme uses separate blocks set at different points on the hillside. ¹³

Why did Lion Green Road win the Stirling Prize?

The judges highlighted how the development fits its surroundings while creating a higher-density neighbourhood. The site rises and falls sharply, and the five blocks are arranged across that slope rather than treated as one large building. ¹³

The design also connects the housing with nearby green space. RIBA’s citation described a place where people could connect with one another and with nature. ³

The award therefore recognised more than the number of homes delivered. Its stated reasons included the relationship between buildings, landscape and community, as well as the project’s response to the need for housing. ¹³

What design choices make the housing stand out?

The blocks have faceted, star-shaped plans and are staggered across the sloping plot. Shared green spaces sit between them, giving the development more than a series of separate buildings. ³

The arrangement was intended to make the homes feel less institutional and to bring light, nature and opportunities for community life into the scheme, according to the project’s architects and the award citation. ¹³

The project uses five distinctive 13-sided blocks, according to the BBC report. Their varied positions and shapes help the scheme respond to the challenging site instead of reading as a single uniform mass. ¹³

This does not mean the sources establish how every home performs in daily use. They describe the architects’ intentions and the jury’s assessment, but do not provide detailed resident feedback or long-term evaluations.

How many homes are affordable or socially rented?

The available reports say the scheme includes a mix of private and socially rented homes, and describe the project as affordable housing for Croydon Council. They do not give a breakdown of how many homes fall into each category. ¹³

That means the total of 157 homes is clear, but the precise tenure mix cannot be stated from these sources. The headline figure should not be taken to mean that all 157 homes are socially rented or affordable. ¹³

This distinction matters because the project is presented as council-led housing, but its mix of tenures is part of how it is described. Readers looking for exact counts would need a more detailed project or council document.

What does the award mean for housing design?

The prize recognises the project’s architecture; it does not by itself establish how residents experience the homes or whether the approach can be repeated elsewhere. The award does draw attention to council-led housing and to design decisions that respond to a difficult site. ²³

For people considering the project as a model, the reporting offers details about its layout and aims, but not a full account of costs, long-term performance or resident views. Those questions remain open in the material available here.

The sources also do not explain how the final number of homes was set or provide a detailed account of the planning and construction process. The useful takeaway is narrower: the jury praised a design that arranged 157 homes on a steep former car park while providing shared green space and a connection to the surrounding landscape. ¹³