Design Competition Announced for New Academic Wing at William Gladstone School

An international competition to design a new academic wing for the 18th Comprehensive School William Gladstone in Sofia, Bulgaria, was announced as an open call on 5 October. According to an announcement published by ArchDaily on 15 October 2026, architects and design teams from Bulgaria and around the world can participate. The competition focuses on developing a concept design for the school’s development.

What is the competition aiming to achieve?

The new wing is expected to provide spaces that enhance the school’s educational resources and support the transition to a single-shift schedule. The announcement describes the school as one of Bulgaria’s oldest and largest educational institutions, as well as one of Sofia’s oldest schools.

The competition frames the project not simply as an opportunity to add a new building, but as a chance to transform the school’s learning environment. Its aims are to bring together contemporary architecture, innovative educational technologies, and conditions suited to current teaching methods. Design teams are therefore being asked to develop a concept that considers how the new academic wing can contribute to the school’s overall development.

Participation and details not yet disclosed

The open call is international and is not limited to teams in Bulgaria. However, the current announcement does not include application requirements, submission format, jury members, prize amounts, or the date when results will be announced. The project’s implementation budget, the list of spaces in the program, and the scope of its relationship to the existing school buildings have also not been shared.

Teams considering entering should therefore verify the submission schedule and technical brief separately. The announcement identifies 5 October as the competition’s official announcement date, while the ArchDaily page was published on 15 October 2026. Since no information is available about the submission period, it is not possible to infer how much time remains before the deadline.

What it means for architecture and visualization teams

In school projects, it is increasingly important to consider the educational program and spatial organization together. Here, the transition to a single-shift schedule and the expansion of educational resources are key factors shaping the concept’s functional goals. Architectural teams may be expected to connect their proposal for a new academic wing to the school’s broader development vision. However, the announcement does not provide a specific capacity or list of spaces, so these should not be treated as confirmed design requirements.

For interior designers and visualization teams, the competition could bring spatial scenarios illustrating different ways of using learning environments to the fore. That said, the submission format and presentation requirements have not been disclosed, so it is not yet known which drawings or visuals will be required. When planning their work, teams should first check the official brief, schedule, and technical file requirements. Decisions about hardware, software, or licenses should not be treated as mandatory competition requirements before those details are clarified.

What information is expected next?

The announcement sets out the main aims of expanding the school and updating its learning environment, but does not include the details participants need to plan their applications. With no deadline, evaluation criteria, jury, or prize information available, the competition can currently be considered a call for concept designs. Once these details are published, teams will be better able to shape proposals that respond both to the educational program and the school’s long-term development.