The Architect's Stair
Dezeen Competitions: Builder's latest competition invites creatives to explore redesigning stairs as an expression of architectural language.
Participants are asked to reflect on the symbolism, geometry, movement and potential of stairs, which should be free from constraints of material or scale.
This competition is now closed
Organiser: Buildner
Competition: The Architect's Stair, Third Edition
Judges: to be announced
Submission deadline: 5 March 2026
Winner announcement: 9 June 2026
Prizes: the first prize is €3,500, the second prize is €1,500, and the third prize is €1,000. An additional Buildner Student Award of €1,000 will also be granted
Competition overview
Buildner presents the third edition of The Architect's Stair – an architecture ideas competition that invites participants to explore the stair as a powerful medium of architectural expression.
Freed from functional constraints, the competition challenges designers to reimagine stairs not as a technical element, but as a conceptual statement.
Whether monumental or minimal, abstract or site-specific, the stairs becomes a tool for communicating spatial identity, narrative and intention.
Eligibility and judging criteria
The competition is open to architects, designers, students and creatives worldwide.
There are no limitations on style, function, context or dimension. Whether monumental or minimal, abstract or inhabitable, real or speculative – what matters is the clarity and creativity of the concept.
We are not looking for compliance with regulations or typical stair design solutions. Instead, this is a conceptual exploration of an essential architectural element, reimagined as a means of expressing your unique design philosophy.
How can a stair tell a story? How can it embody spatial ideas, emotions, ideologies or atmospheres? How can it become a metaphor, a movement, a manifesto?
How to enter
All submissions must be uploaded via the upload panel.
Participants are required to upload four A2 landscape-oriented presentation boards with sketches, renderings, plans, sections, elevations, diagrams and/or other presentation tools to explain their proposal.
- No video files are accepted
- All information provided in writing must be in English
- Access information and instructions on how to upload the presentation board will be issued to participants via email immediately after successful registration
- Presentation boards must not indicate any information related to an individual's/team's identity
Submission deadlines
Early bird registration is up to 15 October, while advance registration is from 16 October to 15 January.
Last-minute registration is from 16 January to 5 March, while the final registration deadline is 5 March 2026. The closing date for submission is 6 April 2026.
Winners will be announced on 9 June 2026.
About Buildner
Buildner publishes international architecture competitions, providing a platform for designers and architects to showcase their work and shape the future of the built environment.
For over ten years, the platform has published more than 140 competitions and had over 400 guest jury members.
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