Lidl Maynooth wins two top honours at the 2026 Building and Architect of the Year Awards.
The Lidl store in Maynooth, Ireland’s first net zero energy supermarket, has been recognised with two major accolades at the 2026 Building and Architect of the Year Awards, winning both Building of the Year and Net Zero Building of the Year.
The awards recognise a project that is redefining what low-carbon retail can achieve at scale. Working as sustainability consultant, BDP helped deliver a multidisciplinary approach that resulted in a genuinely zero-carbon building and a new benchmark for sustainable supermarket design.
The 2,200 sq m flagship store operates entirely on renewable energy generated on site and goes beyond net zero in operation by offsetting embodied carbon through supplying renewable energy to other stores across the Lidl network.
Designed to exceed current standards, Lidl Maynooth demonstrates how ambitious sustainability targets can be translated into practical, scalable solutions for the retail sector. The project offers a model for future developments seeking to balance operational performance, carbon reduction and long-term resilience.
The recognition reflects the collaborative efforts of the wider project team and underlines the growing importance of integrated design approaches in delivering measurable environmental outcomes.
“This recognition highlights what can be achieved when sustainability ambitions are embedded from the outset and delivered through genuine collaboration. Lidl Maynooth sets a precedent for future retail developments, showing that net zero buildings can be both ambitious and practical at scale.”
Further Reading
Lidl, Maynooth
An exemplar of sustainable innovation, Lidl in Maynooth is a genuinely 100% zero carbon retail store.