Newham wins top honours at the 2026 RIBA London Awards, with Plashet Road and Noele Gordon House recognised for sustainable, high-quality affordable housing benefiting local residents.
- Two Newham housing developments win at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) London Awards 2026
- Plashet Road in Upton Park recognised for sustainability, delivering energy-efficient homes that help tackle fuel poverty
- Noele Gordon House in East Ham sets a benchmark for high-quality, affordable later-living housing in East London
Newham Council is celebrating a major success at the RIBA London Awards 2026, with two of its housing developments recognised for outstanding design, sustainability and community impact.
Mayor of Newham, Forhad Hussain, said: “These awards are a proud moment for Newham, and I want to thank everyone who played a part in delivering these exceptional homes.
What makes this recognition even more significant is what it means for residents - lower energy bills, warmer homes, and a better quality of life. In Newham, we’re committed on building homes local families are proud to live in.”
Two schemes, Plashet Road in Upton Park and Noele Gordon House in East Ham, have both received prestigious RIBA London Awards, with Plashet Road also winning the RIBA London Sustainability Award.
Plashet Road, designed by Levitt Bernstein
Plashet Road is Newham’s first Passivhaus-certified housing development. It provides 65 affordable homes and a nursery, designed to be highly energy efficient and low-cost to run. Residents benefit from warmer homes, lower energy bills, and a healthier living environment.
The development has been carefully designed to create a strong sense of community, with shared outdoor space, natural light, and retained mature trees helping to shape a greener neighbourhood.
Noele Gordon House, designed by Mae Architects
Noele Gordon House offers 75 affordable homes for residents aged over 55, alongside a new community health centre. The scheme supports independence, wellbeing and social connection.
Built using best practice design principles, the homes are spacious, accessible and filled with natural light, with shared spaces that bring residents together.
These awards mark a key moment for Newham’s housing delivery programme, launched in 2021 to provide high-quality, genuinely affordable homes for local people.
The council has already delivered around 855 affordable homes and is on track to reach 1,000 new council homes by early 2027. Developments are being built on council-owned land , funded through the Housing Revenue Account and supported by grant from the Greater London Authority (GLA), to meet the needs of residents.
Both developments show that high-quality design and sustainability can be delivered alongside affordability.
Find out more about the 2026 RIBA Awards
Find out more about Newham Council’s affordable homes and regeneration projects
