This year’s AJ Student Prize is now open for entries

The Architects’ Journal is delighted to be inviting tutors at all ARB and RIBA-accredited architecture courses at UK-based schools to enter their students for the AJ Student Prize 2024. Schools are invited to submit a final year project from two students – one at undergraduate level and one at postgraduate level.

Enter here

Entries received from each school will be published in the AJ’s annual student issue, which comes out in September. A panel of distinguished judges will then decide on this year’s Student Prize winners for the best work in undergraduate and postgraduate award categories. These winners will be announced at a prize-giving event in October.

This year, we expect and encourage all entries to the Student Prize to address issues of sustainability, be they environmental or social. To reflect this, we are incorporating the sustainability category into the main awards.

Last year, the undergraduate category was won by Arada Chitmeesilp of the University of Edinburgh for her project Zero-Kilometre: Leith Urban Croft Food Hub.

Centred around the concept of ‘zero-kilometre’ sourcing, where food and materials are acquired locally, the project created spaces for two local food charities within a cluster of neglected buildings in Leith.

2023 undergraduate winner: Zero-Kilometre: Leith Urban Croft Food Hub by Arada Chitmeesilp

Architect apprentice Mehul Ashok Jethwa of De Montfort University won the postgraduate prize. His project Resilient Horizons: Safeguarding Suffolk’s Historic Coastal Villages from Climate Change was chosen by the judges for being 'playful and fun yet practical'. They were impressed by the 'evocative imagery' and 'convincing resolution'.

The project offered an alternative vision for a community of makers and farmers in Dunwich, Suffolk, through the design of a collective workshop, resource library and homestead in a newly formed marshland, and used both retrofit and material reuse.

A highly commended was awarded in the postgraduate category to Max Bridge and Dimitar Zhelev of the University of Sheffield for their public house project which took the theme of 'slowness' and inserted a new public house into a forgotten Victorian building in Fargate, Sheffield.

The sustainability prize went to MArch student Shan Wei Chew of the University of Bath for The Udaipur Plastic School, which envisioned a second life for Udaipur's waste plastic as pavements, shelters and buildings. The scheme was arranged around two public streets lined with the functions of plastic recycling,and invited participation with the landscape providing materials for prototyping bioplastics.

This free-to-enter prize is a great platform to celebrate and support the work of both architecture students and universities across the UK as the new generation of architects emerges. AJ Student Prize 2024 is sponsored by Marley. The entry deadline is 7 June 2024 with the criteria listed below. Please note that only tutors can enter students for the prize.

2023 sustainability winner: The Udaipur Plastic School by Shan Wei Chew

Entry criteria

Can I enter if I am a student or working for a practice?
The project must be entered by the school, ie by the tutor or head of school. Students are not allowed to submit their individual projects.

Is it possible to have an extension to the entry deadline?
We understand that some schools may require an extension and we will aim to be as flexible as possible. However, we do need to ensure that all material is submitted in time to be included in the September student issue. If you are concerned about the entry deadline, please email Fran Williams at ajstudentprize@emap.com.

What kind of project can I enter?
We accept any architectural projects as long as they are designed by a final-year undergraduate or postgraduate student.

How much does it cost to enter?
Submissions are completely free.

Do you accept group submissions/collaborative projects?
Yes as we understand the collaborative nature of the profession but please make sure you list the names of all students involved.

Can I submit one document that includes multiple images, or do I need to submit all images individually?
Images will need to be submitted individually for editorial purposes.

Should the projects come with a primary image and should this be indicated?
Images should be attached in order of preference, so please upload your primary image first.

How are the projects going to be judged?
The judging panel will consider the overall quality and originality of the idea and approach, its skill in execution, and its possibilities and application to practice. Judges will also look at how the project considers both environmental and sustainable contexts.

When will we know the results?
The winners will be announced at the AJ Student Prize event in October. The exact location and date will be confirmed closer to the date.

The AJ Student Prize is sponsored by