2025 AIA UK Excellence in Design Awards

Each year the AIA-UK recognises architectural design excellence through our annual Design Awards. This year, as we approach the 30th iteration of our awards, the AIA UK Board decided to reshape them in four fundamental ways.

Firstly, acknowledging that we are run by and for UK members, we focussed recognition on the excellence of architecture built in the UK only; historically our awards recognised architecture built anywhere in the world.

Secondly, we were keen to more explicitly acknowledge the positive roles architectural design plays in what it does for the people and places in which it is built, so we created broader categories that emphasise the importance of architectural design as a positive integrated intervention within larger social, political, economic, environmental, and physical contexts; historically we have used the rather blunt categories of scale and/or typology.

Thirdly, we wanted to acknowledge the breadth of architectural practice today, from the smallest of spatial interventions to the largest of regenerative infrastructure and landscape, and so we opened entries to any scale or type of project designed by an architect; historically our awards recognised only a traditional notion of the singular building.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, acknowledging the vital role of architects in the climate emergency, we continued to ratchet up the base level of environmental sustainability required for entries. We further integrated sustainable approaches and climate impact across both measurable metrics and more holistic approaches as a key criteria for the selection for all winners, valuing both detailed technical approaches, and strategic design decisions to minimise environmental impact and improve the sustainability of projects and their contexts in the broadest possible sense.

To judge this year's awards we were honoured to have the expertise of a fantastic range of jurors: Alison Brooks (Director and Founder of Alison Brooks Architects, and Chair of the Jury), DaeWha Kang (Founder and Director of DaeWha Kang Design), Edoardo Tibuzzi (Design Director, AKT II Engineering), and Ellie Stathaki (Architecture & Environment Director, *Wallpaper Magazine).  The jury convened in-person in April to review a diverse range of projects from across the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, ranging from a tiny isolated picnic lodge, and single family home renovations in suburbia, to new corporate headquarters, vast science laboratories, major infrastructure projects, and pretty much everything in between.  

Taking advantage of the renewed criteria, the jurors firstly rigorously narrowed the entrants down by design excellence in their various contexts.  From this selection of projects they collectively decided to award projects in the following categories: 

• 'Beyond The Brief', recognising the project that went far beyond the original brief to create something especially impactful for its contexts: 

• 'Outstanding Conservation Project': recognising the importance of architectural design in carefully and thoughtfully restoring historic projects to be conceptually honest to the original structure whilst also bringing the structure up to current building standards, especially around accessibility and energy performance.

• 'Outstanding Small Project': recognising the power of architectural design to transform the daily lives of its users in highly constrained sites and contexts

• 'Innovation & Beauty': the project that exemplified particular innovation in architectural design to create moments of beauty in contexts where design is not commonly present or deemed necessary

• 'Outstanding Place to Commute’: recognising the fundamental role of design in our transitory spaces and transport infrastructure, to move us not only physically but also emotionally too, creating spaces of movement between places and spaces comfortable, practical, durable, and uplifting. 

• 'Outstanding Adaptive Reuse': recognising the vital importance of reusing existing structures not only to preserve contexts and reduce our environmental impact, but also to give new life to places in meaningful and contextually relevant ways through the act of adaptive reuse.

On a pleasant Spring evening in April we hosted our Design Awards Gala Summer Party at Denys Lasdun's brutalist masterpiece of the Royal College of Physicians on Regent's Park. Our members were delighted to be joined by many colleagues and friends from the RIBA, allied professions, and the media. After fine canapes and free-flowing drinks in the gardens, accompanied by the performances of two exceptional classical musicians from the Royal College of Music, the awards were presented to the following winners:

• 'Beyond The Brief': Walters & Cohen Architects for Godolphin & Latymer School's Dining, Library and Sixth Form Centre, London, England

• 'Outstanding Conservation Project': Moxon Architects for the restoration of Queen Victoria's Picnic Lodge, Balmoral, Scotland

• 'Outstanding Small Project': ConForm Architects for the Terzetto Apartment, London, England

• 'Innovation & Beauty': Tonkin Liu for the Tower of Light, Manchester, England

• 'Outstanding Place to Commute': Grimshaw Architects for the Elizabeth Line site-wide design, London, England

• 'Outstanding Adaptive Reuse': Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for their design and masterplanning roles at Norton Folgate, London, England

(The jurors' comments on the winners can be found on our Design Awards 2025 website page)

Following the awards ceremony, the party continued in the Royal College and its gardens.   

Ultimately our 2025 Excellence in Design Awards were a communal coming together to reassert the vital importance of architects and thoughtful architectural design to improve the world in which we all share.  They were a celebration of UK design work across scales and typologies that actively engages with its various contexts and communities as sustainably as possible to positively impact how we live, work, rest, and play everyday, and so help to shape a better world for all.

Our Design Awards are the result of the hard work of many people for many months behind the scenes. We would like to express particular thanks to: our jurors for their dedication, time, and commitment; all the entrants for their time and effort in applying; the Royal College of Physicians for hosting us and providing excellent canapes and drinks; the AIA Board for all their input, help, and logistical support - especially our Vice President Adelina Kolkeva, President Mark E Breeze, Sponsorship Directors Michael Lischer and David Martin, Social Media Director Fiona Edwards, Graphics Director Jamar Rock, and our Chapter Executive Genie Khmelnitski; and lastly, and very importantly, our generous ongoing headline sponsor for the event, Iris Ceramica Group, who have continued to comprehensively and generously support our Design Awards, making it a key signature event in the year.

2024 Noel Hill Award Winner

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) UK Chapter is thrilled to announce Ryan Stranger, a recent MArch graduate from Kingston School of Art, as the winner of this year’s Noel Hill Award for his research proposal, After London. Ryan’s work explores the potential of expanding woodland areas within London to support urban resilience, climate adaptation, and ecological connectivity.

After London presents an ambitious strategy to increase London’s tree canopy cover by 10%, aligned with London’s climate goals. Focusing initially on Epping Forest, Ryan’s research incorporates data from CPRE and GIGL to identify urban spaces currently underutilised or inaccessible, transforming them into valuable green infrastructure. The “Green Crown” proposal envisions a continuous woodland network encircling the city, offering both ecological and social benefits, with routes connecting communities through natural spaces.

The project builds on ecological surveys, aerial mappings, and a deep historical analysis of London’s relationship with nature. By reactivating “Forest Rights” inspired by historic Epping Forest, After London seeks to create accessible sites that allow Londoners to connect with nature across generations. The award will help fund the next research phase, enabling on-site ecological assessments in high-risk climate zones, particularly areas prone to urban heat and flooding. These findings will contribute to a model for sustainable urbanisation within and beyond London.

The jury unanimously praised After London for its clear vision and practical approach to enhancing urban resilience through expanded woodland in and around London. They commended Ryan Stranger's proposal for its well-balanced research methodology, which integrates ambitious, large-scale thinking with tangible, site-specific strategies. The proposal’s visual communication was noted as especially compelling, illustrating the feasibility of a “Green Crown” that leverages London’s existing natural assets, such as Epping Forest, and incorporates underutilised urban spaces into a continuous green network.

After London was celebrated for its ability to build upon existing studies while contributing new insights to urban design, architecture, and ecological development in London. The project’s approach to connecting ecological spaces around London was recognised as impactful, with clear potential to meaningfully enhance the city’s climate resilience through improved canopy cover. The jury highly commended the proposal for its thoughtful consideration of urban trees as an essential element of the cityscape, highlighting Ryan’s work as a model for sustainable urbanism with long-term benefits for Londoners.

2024 Noel Hill Research Award Jurors: Samantha Cooke (Director, KPF), Taylor Rogers (Associate Director, Hopkins Architects), and Karla Montauti (Associate Director, Benoy).

The Noel Hill Award was judged by an esteemed panel: Taylor Rogers from Hopkins Architects, Karla Montauti from Benoy, and Samantha Cooke from KPF. AIA UK extends its gratitude to these judges for their careful consideration and thoughtful evaluation of each submission.

Congratulations to Ryan Stranger for this outstanding achievement. After London exemplifies the visionary thinking the Noel Hill Award seeks to recognise, blending ecological integrity with urban functionality to create a resilient, greener future for London.

Written by Paolo Mendoza, Associate AIA

Chapter Board Members Meet AIA President

While in London for meetings with the RIBA, National AIA President Russell Davidson, FAIA took the opportunity to meet with AIA UK board members. Bea Sennewald, Robert Rhodes, and Michael Lischer, all AIA UK past presidents and Fatos Peja, current AIA UK president elect met with Russell for a lunch meeting on the 3rd of October.

Russell described the AIA's efforts to raise the profile of the profession and make the AIA more inclusive. Efforts include launching programs for kindergarten through 12th grade students to introduce them to the profession and the importance of good design. This program is particularly appropriate for Russell as his 35 person New York practice specializes in education.

Another initiative currently being studied by the national board is to open the AIA's annual convention to the general public. The goal is to engage all those with an interest in architecture, including building owners, developers, contractors, users, and the public. This may require changes to the continuing education program and the design exposition.

The meeting with Russell was very informative and left us with the impression good things are happening at the AIA and the next few years promises to be very interesting for the AIA and its members.

By Michael Lischer FAIA

Construction payment charter updated – a missed opportunity?

The Government’s Construction Leadership Council has published an updated Construction Supply Chain Payment Charter to reflect commitments in the original charter. In our view much more could have been done to strengthen the updated charter; the onus remains very much on the industry to tackle the issue of late payment.

READ our article which details what's new and what impact the new charter will have.

By Will Buckby and Andrew Croft

AIA UK LAUNCHES ONLINE NEWSLETTERS

Welcome to issue No 76 of the AIA UK Chapter Newsletter, the latest issue in a long tradition of AIA news, features, commentary and event reporting started in May 1994.

In May, we issued a trial online AIA UK Newsletter via email to all chapter members.  If you didn’t read it then, check it out now as issue No 75 from here. 

We have also added a Journal section to our website where we publish all of the articles. You can either click and navigate to Journal from the Newsletter or directly go to the Journal from our website . Do not forget to check the AIA UK Journal regularly to be up to date!
Since the trial, the feedback from the membership has been primarily positive, with general agreement that the loss of the hard copy is well offset by a new, simple format that is both flexible and interactive. As well as the built in opportunity for comment on format changes and individual articles, the online Newsletters also allow readers to search through content for specific events, names, etc.

As well as the individual email versions – which will continue to be issued on a more-or-less quarterly basis – recent newsletter articles will be maintained on the website under the heading “Journal” and will be fully accessible to a wider audience of website viewers as well as AIA members.  

With the issue of each new newsletter, a numbered copy of the previous version will also be placed on the website under the heading “Archive.” Currently the Archive contains older newsletter versions dating from 2010.  However, all earlier issues from 1994 onwards have now been scanned and will eventually be accessible on the website. 

To compensate for the loss of the “souvenir” hard copy issues, all future Member Directories will included an expanded series of photo gallery of each year’s events.

The first AIA UK Newsletter from May 1994 was headlined “In the beginning …” and celebrated the arrival of the AIA to the UK on 17 June 1993, when AIA National granted AIA London/UK (as we were then called) a charter as the first international chapter.

Leafing briefly through other past issues from just the years 1994 to 1996 is an exercise in nostalgia by which one can chart the changes that have happened in London and the architectural profession over the last twenty years.  At the same time it is clear that not everything has changed.  Many of the today’s issues and many AIA events retain the same concerns and character as their original versions.
With a view to enticing readers into the archives, a brief summary of other 1994 to 1996 headlines includes:

“AIA and RIBA Pledge Cooperation” – To this day we have maintained a high level of trust and cooperation with the RIBA, but there was a time during the middle years when cooperation reached a low point over the use of the AIA “title.”
“NCARB to Seek Reciprocity Agreement with UK” – In answer to recent members’ frequent questions, yes, the early AIA did try to push for reciprocity from the very beginning with research and analysis of the issue led by Justine Kingham among others.  But even as long ago as 1997, a second headline “NCARB Committee Set Up to Rekindle US/UK Reciprocity” indicated that all was not going to plan. It has been ongoing saga of attempts and disappointments…

“UIA Convention Mobbed as AIA Candidate Elected Vice President” – This intriguing headline merely reports that the UIA Convention was oversubscribed from seven thousand attendees to ten thousand, including our own delegate.

The range of events in those first years also matched our more recent contributions:
The first Annual Design Awards was held in February 1995 and the newsletter article featured pictures of Rick Mather, David Leventhal, Stephan Reinke and jurist, Zaha Hadid, among others. 

The first formal Summer Parties was held at Syon Lodge; the first “Buba” inspired Family Bar-B-Ques was held in Bedford Square.  Coincidentally, this year’s Summer Party turned out to be a Bar-B-Que…

The first Design Charette was held at the US Embassy, with a brief – given long before the current Timberlake design was envisioned for Vauxhall - to consider what should be the best outward expression of America on British soil.  Lee Polisano’s team won the “Best Adaptation of the Existing Building”; Pierre Baillargeon’s team won the “Best New Building”. 
An AIA conference was held in Hong Kong to explore marketing and architectural practice in Southeast Asia

For two years, the AIA was officially represented at NIPIM with circa 10 chapter members - including notably Stephen Yakeley, Stephen Reinke, David Walker, Jonathan Dinnewell and Michael Lischer - participating. The first Continuing Education “brown bag luncheon” seminars were held at KPF, HOK and SOM when CEU credits became mandatory. 

A serious and well attended AIA/RIBA panel discussion on UK and US Planning Laws and Methods included Larry Malcic, Roger Kallman and Peter Rees, then Chief Planning Officer for the Corporation of London.

A dinner at the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects curtesy of Noel Hill brought out the AIA membership in formal black tie attire. 

The first AIA Continental Europe Chapter conference was held in Paris, with Pamela Harriman greeting each and every member attending the Gala Dinner at the US Embassy.
The AIA UK Chapter first went online in June 1996 with a Home Page on Archinet…

BOB SCHMIDT MOVES TO USA

On the 7th of July chapter members gathered to say goodbye to Bob Schmidt and wish him well as he retires back to his hometown of Chicago.  Bob is a founding member of the AIA UK and a past president.  He worked as a planner and moved to England with SOM in the late 1980s to work on Canary Wharf.  Bob retired from Halcrow’s planning practice earlier this year and is already enjoying life back in the Windy City.  

We wish him a happy and relaxing retirement!

L to R: Robert Rhodes, Harry Goforth, Bob Schmidt, Michael Lischer, Lorraine King, Lester Korzilius, R.D Reber