2026 RESULTS
The theme of The Davidson Prize 2026 is: Changing the Game: Building Play into Housing.
This year we called for new ideas unpacking the challenges facing play today, and seeking new solutions for people of all ages inside and outside our homes. We have now announced our winner!
WINNER
PLAYDECK
R.U.A Studio
PLAYDECK by R.U.A Studio is the winner of The Davidson Prize 2026, and £10,000 prize money.
This idea proposes a radical repurposing of London's 1,000 New Routemaster buses, which will be phased out by 2030, into mobile, intergenerational playgrounds that will catalyse outdoor play in existing and underserved residential neighbourhoods.
Using Teviot Street as an example, the buses will occupy existing street parking and help reclaim overlooked verges, parts of the pavement, and underused green spaces to form an active community node where all can come together and play.
Learn more below!
Read MorePEOPLE'S CHOICE PRIZE
The winner of the People’s Choice Prize was BPTW with Farrer Huxley, Julie Futcher,
Arup, and Play Disrupt for their proposal THE (Connected) GREAT (Green) PARK (Play) ESTATE, which aims to introduce a playable, climate-resilient landscape within a sequence of post- war housing estates.
This unlocks connectivity, revitalises the public realm, restores nature, mitigates climate change impacts, and naturally integrates play into everyday life.
THE FINALISTS
THE LONGLIST
JUDGES
