The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, given annually, originally by the magazine Building Design, and since 2024 by The Fence, to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". It was intended to be a humorous response to the prestigious Stirling Prize, given by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

History

First run (2006–2018)

The award was inspired by the Carbuncle Awards that Scottish architecture magazine Prospect (now Urban Realm), had been presenting to buildings and areas in Scotland since 2000.

The name derives from a comment in 1984 by Charles, Prince of Wales (now Charles III), an opponent of certain modernist styles and forms and a staunch defender of existing characterisations, themes and points of interest, who described Ahrends, Burton and Koralek's proposed extension of London's National Gallery as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".

The cup was launched in 2006, with the first winner being Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth by Chapman Taylor. A shortlist was announced by the periodical each year, based on nominations from the public, and usually in the same week as the Stirling Prize shortlist. Free voting via the magazine's website was at first used to select the winner. From 2009 onwards, a small group of critics selected the winner. The original run was last held in 2018.

Second run (2024–present)

In 2024, Soho based magazine The Fence revived the award, with the first year's award being given for buildings completed since the last award of the original run was given in 2018. The judging panel 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

Winners and nominees

First run

YearArchitectWinning workNominees 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, Greater ManchesterMolyneux 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, LondonVivid 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

YearArchitectWinning workNominees and works
2024Broadway MalyanLime Street redevelopment, Liverpool, 2018Jestico + Whiles for W Hotel, Edinburgh, 2023 Twenty First Architects for Virgin Hotel, Glasgow, 2023 Carillion for Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, 2022 Comer Homes Group for Mast Quay II, Woolwich Dockyard, London, 2022 MATT Architecture for Ilona Rose House, London, 2021

See also