Noel Hill Student Research Award
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Noel Hill Student Research Award! See the Design Awards Winners page for more details.
AIA UK is dedicated to supporting students and encouraging new research and knowledge in architecture. The Noel Hill Student Research Award, created in memory of founding AIA UK member Noel Hill, is a cash grant of up to £2,000 awarded annually to a Part 2 student that has undertaken outstanding and original research during their studies, to enable them to continue their research however they think best.
Submissions open in early Spring, and the Award is announced as part of our annual AIA UK Excellence in Design Awards ceremony in central London.
Stay tuned for the call for submissions each Spring. Stay up to date by subscribing to our event updates, and following us on social media.
Who was Noel Hill?
Noel Hill AIA RIBA was a founding member of the AIA UK. He studied Architecture, City Planning, and Urban Design at Miami University, Ohio.
In 1964 he came to London and joined Westminster City Council one year later, going on to serve as Principal Architect / Planning Officer for 25 years. He was involved in many notable projects, including the redevelopment of Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, Leicester Square, and Parliament Square. In 1988, he set up his own planning consultancy.
Noel was an essential and active member of numerous organizations, including the AIA UK and the RIBA. He was elected as RIBA Liaison Director at the first AIA UK Annual General Meeting on 28 March 1994. Since then, he organized conferences, events, and competitions, and used his numerous industry contacts for the benefit of the Chapter. The first Noel Hill Award was presented in 2003 to honor his legacy.
2026 Winners
2026 Excellence Award - Shengtao Xia - From Perception to Sensing: A Quantitative Study of London Streetscapes
2026 Merit Award - Camilla Flora Ludwig - Ride/Revel/Repair: Reconnecting Ritual and Landscape Restoration in the Tarras Valley
2026 Citation - Joshua Self - The Realm of Analogue: Acoustic Systems Across Domestic and Cultural Space
2026 Citation - Cieran Peter Clarkson - Accommodating Hackney Wick
Past Winners and Research Topics
2024 - After London: expanding woodland areas within London
2023 - Comfort en-route: forming a hydro-social network in high migration regions
2022 - Principles of Change: Dichotomy in Western Australian communities
2021 - Community building in Glasgow
2016 - When in Rome
2015 - Cambodia: Building a school
2012 - USA: Cities without an urban grain
2010 - Tibet: Vernacular Architecture
2009 - Mozambique: Architecture & Urbanism in the context of Africa's colonial & post-colonial past
2004 - Indigenous settlements of New Zealand | Urban design challenges in Cuba
2003 - Lunar Box | Observatory | SDR Park | London Bridge Development