It has been a long two years, during which many wretched builds have been built. But there is only one that can truly be named the worst – or possibly two, jointly – and The Fence has taken up the mantle in crowning this winner-loser for the Carbuncle Cup 2026. The buildings were nominated by the public – one in 61 separate entries – and then judged by a panel of experts. Ugliness was not enough to secure a place on the short list. They needed to offend something deeper, more egregious, in their design and execution. As one panelist noted, ‘We’re not enjoying this, despite the laughter. These things shouldn’t exist.’ Below are the nine buildings shortlisted for The Fence’s 2026 Carbuncle Cup – and at the end you will find the winner. We offer our warmest thanks to the architects and engineers who made this project possible.
Robeson House
‘The building is totally incoherent with bricks stuck on in any direction, devoid of any interest or attempt to build for the future or the community,’ James Green, via email.
The problem exemplified here is that, as one panelist observed, ‘a lot of architects just don’t know how to build.’ There are a few others too, not least the brickwork, which could be accurately and kindly described as all over the shop. The building was designed as student housing by the LSE and named after the civil rights activist Paul Robeson, who has surely suffered enough already and need not have his name attached to this mess. The first example of several shortlisted London housing disasters.
Belgrove
Public nomination: ‘It is grossly over-scaled for the plot, rejects all sense of context (other than the token buff brickwork) and lacks any sense of programmatic legibility,’ George Davis, via email.
Picture this. You’ve just arrived at King’s Cross. You’re funnelled off the platform, pass one of the dozen food outlets recently shut for a rodent infestation, and emerge dazed and blinking in front of the eyesore of Belgrove House. Much to say about this building, but perhaps most important is the question of why there is no architectural code governing development beside some of the country’s most remarkable railway architecture. To make matters worse, it is still unfinished, meaning we may have to suffer it for years to come.
Triangle Yard
Public nomination: ‘If you’re ever unfortunate enough to gaze upon this Elephants-foot-eque eyesore you’d soon realise how imposing and disastrously out of place this building truly is. Like a big orange slab with it being almost as wide as it is tall,’ Oscar Vaughan-Birch, via email.
The nominee made a strong stab at convincing the judges, but the panel were nonetheless quite taken by the submitted pictures: ‘I think it’s quite cute,’ said one. Another said that they were ‘charmed by its shape and the word “elephant” – so let’s leave it at that for me.’ It was conceded that the siloed centre was a menace, not least for the resulting wind tunnel, but that overall, it really wasn’t the worst the nation could offer up. Moving on…
Aspen Tower
Public nomination: ‘The renders for the project show a glassy tower disappearing into the sky but what has been built is a clunky and awkward building that seems to have been value-engineered to within an inch of its life,’ Kieran Clarke Taylor, via email.
