Architecture Today has launched Regenerative Design 2026, a month-long programme of exhibitions and events at the Building Centre in London.
Regenerative Design 2026 (RD26) kicked off with a party at the Building Centre in London on Thursday 1 October. Launched by Architecture Today, RD26 is a month-long programme of exhibitions and events designed to communicate the principles of regenerative design to a broad audience of architects, clients, consultants, contractors, policymakers, sustainability leaders and the general public.
It also serves as the first physical, albeit temporary home, of the Regenerative Architecture Index, a partnership between Architecture Today, UK Architects Declare and RAI partner Schüco.
Architecture Today editor Isabel Allen with Wildlife Animal Sanctuary CEO Lawrence Bates.
Regenerative Design 2026
Opening the proceedings, Architecture Today Editor Isabel Allen introduced RD26, which comprises three free exhibitions and an extensive programme of talks, discussions and roundtables bringing together different perspectives on the obstacles to progress and strategies for moving from ambition to action.
At the heart of RD26 is the Regenerative Design 2026 Case Studies exhibition supported by AHMM, showcasing work submitted by more than 100 RAI practices. Reinventing Practice, delivered with IKO, pairs portraits by Timothy Soar with interviews examining how organisations are changing the way they work. Meanwhile, Wildheart Animal Sanctuary: Ambition in Action brings live footage of rescued bears Benji and Balu into the Building Centre, highlighting the sanctuary’s ongoing relationship with the RAI.
The RD26: Case Studies exhibition featuring projects by organisations in the 2026 Regenerative Architecture Index.
RD26 programme highlights include Paradigm shift: a new mindset for a regenerative world, opening with a keynote from IBUKU founder Elora Hardy; Pathways for a regenerative future with Michael Pawlyn; Neil Thomas’s Tree stories (and some grass); Why bamboo?, exploring bamboo’s potential as a low-carbon construction material; and The People’s Emergency Briefing, followed by a discussion on the climate and nature emergency. Click here to view the full events programme.
Programme partners include Heidelberg Materials and Interface, with Atelier One, H.G. Matthews, INOPERA, HDR and HKS supporting individual events. Conversation partners include Brilliant Bamboo, Groupwork, HLM Architects, Max Fordham, RIBA, the University of Westminster and Useful Simple Trust. AHMM, IKO and Wildheart Animal Sanctuary support the exhibitions, with the Building Centre as venue partner and the Institution of Structural Engineers as industry partner.
Reinventing Practice, an exhibition of portraits by Timothy Soar featuring members of the Regenerative Architecture Index – one of three exhibitions on show at the Building Centre throughout October.
Regenerative Architecture Index 2026
The evening then turned to the Regenerative Architecture Index, now in its third year. Run by Architecture Today with UK Architects Declare and delivered in partnership with Schüco, the RAI benchmarks the progress of practices moving towards regenerative design and delivery, recognising the need for a built environment that goes beyond reducing negative impacts to generate positive outcomes for both the present and future. The 2026 Index comprises 119 organisations, ranging from sole practitioners to multidisciplinary global practices.
Each organisation submitted detailed responses across three interconnected pillars: Being a good ancestor, Co-evolving with nature, and Creating a just space for people. Submissions were independently assessed through UK Architects Declare, with particularly engaging or insightful responses identified as front runners alongside runners-up and ones to watch.
Mandy Franz and Tom Gibson from UK Architects Declare.
UK Architects Declare’s Mandy Franz, Tom Gibson and Rory Thomas introduced the RAI and announced the 2026 front runners (listed below). Responses from the front runners, together with wider thinking, projects and conversations emerging from this year’s Index, are brought together in a special Regenerative Architecture Index issue of Architecture Today (AT345).
UK Architects Declare Next Gen Ambassador Rory Thomas.
Being a good ancestor
Left: Left: Designed by Cullinan Studio, Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre at Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, is an oasis within an urban medical campus (photo: Paul Raftery). Right: Three Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. Passive systems support adaptability as climate conditions evolve (photo: Andy Stagg).
Front-runners:
Collective Architecture
Useful Simple Trust
Cullinan Studio
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Elliott Wood
We Made That
BIOTECKTA
SOM
Co-evolving with nature
Left: Studio Knight Stokoe undertook the technical design, delivery, and ongoing stewardship of the terraced roof gardens at Plant in Basingstoke (photo: Studio Knight Stokoe). Right: The Peter Buckley Learning Centre by Gale & Snowden Architects. Set within RHS Rosemoor, the building is designed to immerse children in nature (photo: Joakim Boren).
Front-runners:
Gale & Snowden
Exploration Architecture
Studio Knight Stokoe
Atelier One
shed km
DSDHA
Useful Simple Trust
Max Fordham
Creating a just space for people
Left: Co-authored with Key Cities, We Made That’s Who’s right, what right, and where’s that right? event was held in London last year. The discussion explored seen and unseen rights inscribed on street corners, (photo: C Dion Barrett for We Made That). Right: Collective Works’ regular weekly office days effect better collaboration and more informal learning and social opportunities (photo: Zoe Salt).
Front-runners:
Purcell
Root and Erect
Ridge and Partners
Collective Works
Jan Kattein Architects
Assemble
We Made That
