Just before the summer, every RIBA and ARB-accredited school across the UK was invited to nominate students for the eighth annual AJ Student Prize, which celebrates final-year students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Over 100 entries were received.
The entries in the two categories were assessed by a jury consisting of recent RIBA president and Mace senior architectural manager Muyiwa Oki, Urban Radicals partner Era Savvides, CARD Projects founder Katie Fisher, and Derin Fadina, writer and architect at Barr Gazetas,who also co-edited the Student Prize issue of the AJ.
In a lively and energetic judging session that took place on Wednesday (8 October), three winners were chosen for their focus on Palestine, the RAAC crisis and retrofit – three very timely issues.
In the undergraduate category, the judges were looking for projects that were convincing, inspirational, had depth and demonstrated a wide breadth of media.
Undergraduate winner: Running Wild by Sophie Page of Cardiff University
Sophie Page of the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University was named the Part 1 winner for her project Running Wild, which combines the retrofit and material reuse of a 1940s factory with children’s play spaces.
A layered transformation unfolds in phases and through hands-on involvement, young people become stewards of their changing environment, which is shaped by nature and time.
The judges said: ‘Reuse of abandoned factories is something that we will have to grapple with. This project is beautiful, solid, joyful, bold and imaginative in the way it approaches that problem.
‘The student has approached retrofit in a very convincing way. Retrofit is hard enough as it is. We want people to be excited by it, and this project does just that.’
On receiving her prize, Page said: ‘To be presented this award in a room filled with such incredible talent was the most wonderful surprise.
‘I spent the evening overwhelmed with gratitude and want to give my thanks to all those who have helped me get to where I am today.’
The postgraduate category was deemed particularly strong this year. The judges were looking for schemes that really questioned where the industry is going. The projects needed to be ‘important, challenging something, and be research-based’, they said.
Postgraduate highly commended: Re-Framing the Hollow by Yana Shaban of the Architectural Association
The high standard led the judges to award a highly commended prize to the Architectural Association’s Yana Shaban for her ‘incredible’ project, Re-Framing the Hollow.
The project, a collaboration with local NGO RIWAQ, addresses the issue of stone misappropriation in Palestine’s West Bank and explores the quarry’s cultural significance as a form of resistance.
The final design – initially meant to be a school for students affected by demolition orders – hosts charities, NGOs and the local community. Its construction focuses on reuse and low-tech approaches.
The judges were absolutely wowed by this project. ‘There is a tendency for students to have a very timely concept and as such the consequence becomes mediocre,’ they said.
‘But the amount of rigour and seriousness with which this project has been treated is fantastic. It makes a political statement yet is super sensitive.’
Postgraduate winner: School is City, City is School by Amy Wilkinson of the London School of Architecture
However, there was a stand-out winner in the postgraduate category: Amy Wilkinson of the London School of Architecture.
Her Part 2 project, School is City, City is School, uses the RAAC crisis as a catalyst to question both the technical failure of the material as well as a deeper typological redundancy embedded in the UK’s mainstream school system.
Using Hornsey School as a testbed, the project responds to the Department for Education’s policy on RAAC management and capital funding, critiquing the current tendency towards like-for-like replacement with an alternative, reframing decants as a design tool.
‘It is more than commendable,’ the judges said. ‘This project is focused and based in real life. It ticks all the boxes.
‘It questions the role of the architect today and the value of being an architect.
‘This is what the AJ Student Prize is about: taking a real problem, being engaged with what’s happening around us and trying to find a solution that can seriously help.’
After picking up her prize, Wilkinson, currently an architectural assistant at AHMM, said: ‘My project explored how architects can engage with urgent challenges in education, policy, and social and environmental sustainability, and it’s incredibly encouraging to see that recognised by the architectural community.
‘A huge thanks to my tutors and the LSA for their support throughout my Part 2 studies.’
Postgraduate winner: School is City, City is School by Amy Wilkinson of the London School of Architecture
The winners for this year’s AJ Student Prize, supported by Marley, were revealed last night (Thursday 9 October) at an event at HTA Design’s retrofitted offices in Hackney Wick.
The free-to-enter prize for graduating students is the AJ’s platform to celebrate and support the work of both architecture students and architecture schools across the UK.
This year, there was a 100 per cent entry rate – every ARB or RIBA-accredited course across the country nominated at least one student. There was one new entrant, Bath Spa University, which has just celebrated its first graduating cohort and is in the process of launching a MArch course. The University of Staffordshire will also be eligible to enter next year.
The editors of the AJ Student Prize edition, Derin Fadina and Fran Williams, said of this year’s projects: ‘Current difficulties aside, the entries continue to thrill and inspire.
‘This year’s cohorts have produced imaginative, rigorous work, tackling diverse briefs dealing with issues ranging from silviculture and insect cohabitation to wellness centres, disposal of bodies of the deceased and space debris.’
AJ Student Prize judges (clockwise from top left): Derin Fadina, Era Savvides, Muyiwa Oki and Katie Fisher
The 2025 judging panel
Muyiwa Oki, former RIBA president and senior architectural manager, Mace
Derin Fadina, writer and architect, Barr Gazetas
Katie Fisher, founder, CARD Projects
Era Savvides, partner, Urban Radicals
Statement from the sponsor
Once again, we’re delighted to be working as a founding partner with the AJ Student Prize, which is now in its eighth year. Sponsoring the AJ Student Prize is an important step in showcasing future architectural talent and highlights the critical role roofing plays in innovative construction design. The prize is an extension to the ways we already work alongside the AJ and universities across the country to support the thousands of architecture students who train in the UK. By building long-term partnerships with architecture students, we can work with them through their careers to help turn their exciting roofing visions into reality.
Dan Redfern, head of marketing communications, Marley
The AJ Student Prize is sponsored by
