From invisible timber junctions to Newton spectra on chapel walls, Níall McLaughlin recalls a series of encounters with a community of nuns that quietly upend assumptions about faith, expertise and architectural value.
South Staffordshire College
Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt’s new town-centre campus for South Staffordshire College replaces a redundant department store with a civic-minded building that reconnects further education to the Tamworth historic centre.
Níall McLaughlin awarded 2026 Royal Gold Medal
The Irish architect, educator and writer has been recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects for a body of work defined by clarity, craft and a sustained commitment to the human experience of space.
Dispatches from Donegal: Pasparakis Friel
Based in rural Donegal, but shaped by decades of life and work across Europe, Sosie Pasparakis and Ronan Friel reflect on listening as a design tool, the quiet intelligence of a rural practice, and how memory, landscape and craft meet in projects that sit lightly and thoughtfully in their landscape.
Africa Hall restored
Architectus’ conservation and renewal of the United Nations’ Historic Africa Hall in Addis Ababa reasserts one of the defining works of African modernism as a functioning civic and diplomatic space.
Legal advice: Navigating the ARB’s new code
The ARB’s refreshed Architects’ Code identifies six overarching standards of professional behaviour. Regulatory solicitors Ben Hall and Chloe Wynne advise architects on how to protect themselves against accusations of breaching professional standards.
Michael Pawlyn’s Biomimicry in Architecture: essential reading for 2026
The latest iteration of Michael Pawlyn's Biomimicry in Architecture combines technical expertise and analysis with the emotional narratives required to imagine and precipitate more life-affirming futures.
AT Webinar: Sound, light and air
Join us on Wednesday 25th February to explore how architects and specialists are balancing sound, light and air to create healthier, more comfortable buildings, examining daylighting, ventilation and acoustic strategies that support wellbeing, inclusivity and environmental performance without compromising energy and carbon goals.
Dispatches from Mexico: Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo
Selected to design the 25th Serpentine Pavilion, LANZA atelier founders Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo discuss their serpentine-inspired proposal, the intelligence of modest forms, and how movement, materiality and collective experience shape their approach to architecture.
Ask the Expert: Acoustic design for audio-inclusivity
Ben Hancock, Managing Director at Oscar Acoustics, answers readers’ questions on how architects can design audio-inclusive spaces that support communication, connection, and focus.
Are you ready for bamboo?
Join us on Thursday 12th February to explore how bamboo is being understood, tested and applied as a construction material, examining its material behaviour, structural potential, safety considerations and design implications as architects and engineers look beyond timber toward lower-carbon alternatives.
Collective Works
Collective Works discuss challenging received wisdom and the imperfect systems which are causing harm, and using the language of the seasons to frame the rhythm of company life.
Belfast Grand Central Station
Belfast Central Station by John McAslan + Partners opens to the public, supporting 20 million journeys annually as the largest integrated transport hub in Northern Ireland.
1 Berkeley Street
Timothy Soar explains why he found it a joy to photograph AHMM's 'surgical transformation' of two tired 1970s buildings in London's West End into a vibrant mixed-use quarter that is smart, with a big heart.
Flood plain house
Martin Williams of Williams Griffiths Architects explains how – and why – the practice took on a flood-prone site in rural Suffolk, complex technical constrants and an extremely low budget to give an extraordinary client the home that she deserves.
Reinventing one of the City’s last grand townhouses
Chris Dyson Architects’ restoration of a five-storey Georgian townhouse in the City of London transforms a Grade II-listed building into a distinctive contemporary headquarters, balancing domestic grandeur with the demands of a modern workplace.
Clay Rise
Templeton Ford’s debut project is a carefully crafted house in West Sussex that draws on local materials, vernacular forms and passive environmental design.
Jan Kattein Architects
Jan Kattein Architects reflect on 15 years of retention, re-use, repurposing and repair – and giving an antique gramophone horn a brand new steam-punk lease of life.
The Victoria
Collective Architecture's 136-unit residential development at the former Victoria Infirmary site in Glasgow skilfully balances competing demands for density, heritage and public realm.
in partnership with AccuRoof (formerly SIG Design and Technology)
Muswell Hill Terrace
Zminkowska De Boise Architects’ crafted rear extension to an Edwardian terrace in Muswell Hill replaces a poorly performing side return with a calm, split-level sequence of spaces shaped by material clarity, light and everyday family life.
Barnscapes
A derelict East Sussex farm has been reimagined as a low-impact holiday retreat, skilfully balancing architectural rigour with informality and sustainability with adaptability.
Stronger together
Futurebuild and UK Construction Week London are uniting in 2026 to create the UK’s built environment super event.
Spotlight on products in use
in partnership with manufacturers
Runda
NIKJOO’s timber-framed house for developer Flawk transforms a tight, curved corner plot in Gospel Oak into a sculptural, low-carbon home shaped by craft, material care and the site’s industrial past.
Breathing space
As indoor air quality rises up the agenda for architects, Johnstone’s Trade discusses how smarter paint and coating specifications can contribute to healthier buildings long after completion.
Purcell
Purcell discusses the challenges involved in maintaining and adapting our built heritage to meet the needs of today whilst planning for a more resilient tomorrow.
The Regenerative Architecture Index 2026 is open for entries
If you are actively engaging with regenerative principles, or setting out a clear, accountable pathway beyond sustainability, we encourage you to take part. Find out more, including how to enter, here.
School of Specification – Fire Safety for Principal Designers
Simón Santamaria, Technical Development Director at Stantec, has produced a School of Specification module on fire safety for principal designers. Here he explores the distinction between compliance and conformity, as well as the tools for evaluating competence and quality in fire safety design.
London Fields West
For more than two decades, London based practice Chance de Silva has pursued the question of what happens when art and architecture evolve simultaneously. With a design method shaped through collaboration with musicians, performance artists, painters and filmmakers, their recently completed project continues this enquiry, but this time, the collaborator is the city itself.
