British architect, designer and urban planner John Simpson is the winner of this year’s Driehaus Prize in Architecture, backed by the Chicago-based Driehaus Trust and given by the University of Notre Dame.
The award of $200,000 is the largest cash prize in the world of architecture.
Simpson was selected for “his lifelong dedication to and outstanding achievements in traditional urbanism and architecture,” according to an announcement Monday.
Subscribing to the New Classical movement of contemporary architects designing in classical styles, Simpson’s most noted works include buildings at the Royal College of Music in London, a master plan for the area around St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and a museum at Kensington Palace, opened by Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. He was also the architect of the University of Notre Dame’s own Walsh Family Hall of Architecture on its campus in Indiana.
“John Simpson has long maintained that traditional forms are environmentally sound and contribute to the sense of local identity,” said Stefanos Polyzoides, dean of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture, in part in a statement. Polyzoides led the jury that selected the winners.
Additionally, French architect Philippe Villeneuve will receive the university’s 2026 Henry Hope Reed Award, a recognition with a cash prize of $50,000. Villeneuve specializes in historic monument conservation and restoration and was selected for his “visionary leadership” in the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris after a devastating fire in 2019. The landmark cathedral reopened in late 2024.
The jury credited Villeneuve for advocating that Notre-Dame de Paris be rebuilt in its original construction methods and returned to its original form.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech to construction workers inside the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral after visiting the restored interiors on Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)
The Richard H. Driehaus Prize is presented annually by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture in recognition of that year’s laureate’s body of work. It’s given in the name of the founder of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management and the award will be presented in a ceremony at 11 a.m. March 21 at Chicago’s Driehaus Museum (50 E. Erie St.).
Following the ceremony, there will be a tribute to architect Léon Krier, the “godfather of the New Urbanism movement,” who was the first Driehaus Prize laureate in 2003 and who died in June 2025 at age 79.
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com