The Surface Design Awards have announced the highly anticipated shortlist for the 2026 edition. The awards continue to champion material excellence and design innovation from the UK and around the globe. The announcement follows an energetic and lively judging day with some of the design industry's most respected experts deliberating and debating the standout entries.
The 2026 awards underwent a refresh, introducing a new process that saw a panel of distinguished judges, each selected for their specialist knowledge and expertise, evaluate entries across ten updated categories. These updated categories were devised to reflect the most innovative projects and products that improve how designers approach materiality.
The esteemed judging panel brought together respected voices in the design industry including Muyiwa Oki – President RIBA, Tina Norden - Principal at Conran & Partners, Arthur Mamou-Mani – Director of Mamou-Mani, Seetal Solanki- Founder and Director of Ma-tt-er, Barbara Chandler- Founder of Green Grads, Oscar Pearce- Co-Founder of Design Burger, Michael Grubb- Founder of Michael Grubb Studio and Tim Bowder-Ridger- Principle and Partner at Conran and Partners, Roddy Clarke – Design Journalist, Presenter & Consultant and Tim Gledstone – Partner at Squire & Partners.
The full list of finalists is below:
Project Categories
Lighting
- Matthew Giles Architects - House of Panes
- Studio RAP - Blue Voyage - Marsa Al Arab
- Signature Walls - The Newman Hotel
- Giles Miller Studio – Fractalism
Hospitality
- Studio RAP - Blue Voyage - Marsa Al Arab
- Tigg Coll - Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park
- Signature Walls - The Newman Hotel
Public Realm
- Ketley Brick Co Ltd - Silvertown Tunnel Portal Buildings - Greenwich Peninsular Portal in Greenwich and Silvertown Portal in Newham
- Studio RAP - New Delft Blue
- Peter Donegan Garden Design - Cancer Support Outdoor Therapy Room
- Lundhs AS - Kew Gardens Carbon Pavilion
Facades
- Studio RAP - Ceramic House
- Roberta Rampazzo Design – Sublime
- Roni Karsh - Wa, Ma - Wooden Cube Façade
Regenerative Design
- Liza C Design - Agri-fruit-bag
- Lundhs AS - Kew Gardens Carbon Pavilion
- Nested Living – Redstones
Product Categories
Innovation:
- Liza C Design - Agri-fruit-bag
- Aga Blonska – CoWave
- Camira - ReSKU 2.0
Sustainability:
- Sphere8 – EPI Corestone Nature
- Humanscale - Freedom 25
- Liza C Design - Agri-fruit-bag
Material Transformation:
- Camira - ReSKU 2.0
- Rosy Napper - ReCinder
- Pit-to-table - pit-board
Heritage & Craft:
- Camira - ReSKU 2.0
- Tanaka Eyewear - Patina as Performance
- The Monkey Puzzle Tree Ltd - Blues Fantasia Textile Wallpaper
Digital Integration:
- Shenzhen Starise Creation Technology Co., Ltd - Vintage, Reinvented — Bold-Color Originals for Modern Living
- Aga Blonska – CoWave
The 2026 awards also include the new Emerging Talent award, which is by invitation only, where student projects and universities are invited to enter projects demonstrating outstanding material innovation and will be decided by public vote via the Surface Design Show website
Winners Announcement
The category winners and Supreme winner will be announced at a champagne reception during SDS26, held at London’s Business Design Centre.
