Queen’s Quay shortlisted for the RIBA Northern Ireland Awards 2026 + Public Choice Award
We’re delighted to share that Queen’s Quay Kiosk has been shortlisted as one of six projects for the 2026 RIBA Northern Ireland Awards.
It’s a strong list — and we’re proud that a small but thoughtful piece of public architecture is being recognised alongside much larger budget schemes. It has done a lot already and is clearly well loved. If you can, please vote for us in the RSUA Public Choice Award 2026.
The kiosk sits on what was, for a long time, an inactive industrial edge. It now acts as a real focal point and supports all sorts of events, activism and business incubation — alongside the simple pleasures of grabbing a coffee and spending a moment on the waterfront.
It’s been brilliant to see it so well used — from the starting point for Critical Mass to DJs and all sorts of things happening over the summer.
The project has also been shaped by Native Coffee, whose energy and instinct for saying “yes” is a big reason the kiosk has become a genuine meeting place by the water. As the Architects’ Journal put it in Four lessons in placemaking from a Belfast coffee kiosk, Queen’s Quay works because it’s an accumulation of small, practical decisions — and because the operator brings the vibrancy with them, as the Native Weekender shows so well.
Collaboration (and a bit of bravery)
Queen’s Quay was developed with Belfast City Council, with funding and planning support through the Department for Communities.
It also needed a level of bravery from the client side. Small projects in prominent places can easily get over-managed into something safe but forgettable. This brief was allowed to evolve into something more civic, alongside Maritime Belfast Trust — and the shortlist feels like recognition of that shared ambition.
The AJ note is also right: the six shortlisted RIBA NI projects are separately in contention for the new RSUA all-Ulster Architecture Awards, which have opened the awards across all nine counties of Ulster for the first time.
For more on the RSUA shortlist, see RSUA’s project shortlist announcement.
There’s also a Public Choice Award 2026 — a good move towards making architecture something more people can engage with, debate, and celebrate.
Thank you
Thanks to everyone who has helped bring Queen’s Quay to life — the client team, project partners, makers, and especially Native, who continue to develop the place in a way that makes it feel open, generous and properly public.
