UCA past and present top the
AJ Architecture Awards 2023

Celebrating the very best in architecture across the UK, AJ revealed the winners in 20 of its categories ranging from Civic to Workplace, Culture to Refurb and Housing to Leisure, at a ceremony in London.

Amrit Seera, who graduated in BA (Hons) Architecture in 2014, works as a senior architect at Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture, which won the School Project award for its Alfreton Park Community SEN School.

“The judges thought this an extraordinary project with ‘a real calmness about the place’, derived from strong, simple architectural ideas, executed with confidence and sensitivity,” said AJ, in an article covering the awards.

Former M.ARCH design and technology tutor Dave Lomax, an associate director at Waugh Thistleton Architects, picked up awards on behalf of his team, who won both the Workplace Project and the Architect of the Year awards.

Dave said via his LinkedIn profile: “We're grateful for all the recognition our work has received over the years, but it's especially great to feel we have the respect and support of our peers in the architectural community as we attempt to challenge the principles of what it means to build sustainably. Without the opportunity to have our voices heard by other architects, our agency is greatly reduced.”

Architecture tutor Alex Smith, who is also founding director of [Y/N] Studio, received a highly commended recognition for his team’s 2022 project, Bradbury Works – an extension and refurbishment of the Bradbury Street Workspaces in Hackney. Maegan Icke, a fellow architect at the studio, also teaches at UCA’s School of Architecture and Design having graduated from the BA (Hons) Architecture course in 2014.

_{[Y/N] Studio, Bradbury Works. Photo by French and Tye}

AJ stated: “This refurbishment and extension of a Victorian building as affordable workspaces was commended by judges as intelligent retrofit on a budget.”

Every shortlisted building in each category was visited by a panel of expert judges, who included Eleanor Fawcett of Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, Sahiba Chadha of Cullinan Studio and engineer Webb Yates co-founder Steve Webb.

The projects were assessed against a range of criteria, which included design quality, user experience, civic contribution, sustainability and performance among others to decide upon the winners.

The winners were announced at a special gala event at the Hilton Metropole hosted by comedian Simon Evans.

To learn more about UCA’s School of Architecture and Design at UCA Canterbury, visit the course pages.

To read about the winners in full, visit the Architects’ Journal website.