Entry information

Why enter

  • All entries will be reviewed by the editors of the AR, who will choose a shortlist of 15 projects
  • The top six projects will then be visited by an independent critic before the winner is selected by an international panel of judges
  • All shortlisted projects will be featured in the June issue of The Architectural Review, with in-depth building studies for the top six
  • All entrants will have their project listed on the AR Public awards website, each with an image and URL
  • All shortlisted projects will be promoted in print in the AR, and on the AR website, emails and social media to more than a million readers worldwide
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What to enter

The AR Public awards celebrate excellence in the design of public space, from parks to pools to all the civic structures of the city. Possible eligible projects include:

  • Bridges
  • Canopies or pavilions
  • Courtyards
  • Harbours
  • Lidos
  • Markets
  • Outdoor amphitheatres
  • Pavements
  • Piers
  • Playgrounds
  • Public gardens
  • Public roof terraces
  • Public staircases
  • Riversides and waterfronts
  • Street furniture
  • Town squares
  • Underpasses
  • Wayfinding

and many more!

These kinds of spaces could be part of bigger or broader projects, for example as part of a public building such as museum or urban development such as a housing project – please note that judges will be concentrating on the public spaces of the project, so your submission should focus on these rather than the overall project.

All projects must have been completed within the last five years (after January 2021), and should be freely accessible to the public in order to be eligible. There are no restrictions of budget or location.

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How to enter

  • Register on the entry page
  • Start your entry, which will consist of:
    • two A2 boards, uploaded as two separate PDF files containing compressed images, drawings and vectorised text
    • Boards must include drawings (at least one plan and one section) of the project, photographs and a short explanatory text (250 words are recommended) as well as the project location (city or region and country)
    • please note that files should not exceed 12MB and boards must be anonymous, otherwise they may be disqualified
    • six high-resolution JPEG images (at least 480 x 480px) and accompanying credits. The hero image will be added to our gallery of entries on this website
  • Submit your entry via the online entry form by the deadline (13 February 2026). You can start and save your entry to come back to it at any point before the deadline

To help you:

  • To ensure anonymity in judging, no names of entrants or collaborating parties may appear on any part of the board.
  • You can view entry board examples of the 2024 AR Public winner, Dún Laoghaire Baths by DLR Architects Department and A2 Architects in Ireland:
    Board 1
    Board 2
  • If you are submitting multiple entries and would like a discount code, or have any queries at all, please contact prudence.fabre@emap.com
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