Students from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering were recognised at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Medals Student Awards in London on 3 December 2025, on the heels of two Bath teams claiming first and second place at InfraVision’s City of Tomorrow International Student Design Competition in Paris just weeks earlier.
Recognising design excellence
Presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for 189 years, the President’s Medals recognise the world’s best work by architecture students. In 2025, the awards received a record number of 378 entries, with up to five commendations being awarded in each category, mirroring last year’s number and diversity of prizes.
Toby Ritson, an undergraduate architecture student, won the RIBA Award for Sustainable Design at Part 1 for ‘Renovation Wharf’, a lifetime carbon-negative retrofit hub uniting builders, industry leaders and homeowners while showcasing the future of low-carbon construction.
MArch Architecture students Joel Boyd, Siena Cornish, Jamie Ferguson, Ben Hanger, Beth Kippin and Marco Lin, won the RIBA Serjeant Award for Excellence in Architectural Drawing at Part 2 for Mohalla Van: A post-masterplan urban vision for Bhopal, blending traditional Indian miniature painting with Gond artwork to reimagine urban representation.
Undergraduate student Antar Ghazoul earned a Commendation in the Bronze Medal category of the President’s Medals for his Hotwells Dock Project, exploring wetland regeneration in Bristol through innovative design.
Head of Architecture, Professor Alexander Wright, said: “The international recognition of the outstanding quality of our students’ work in this year’s RIBA Awards is richly deserved. Overall, it means our students have received 7 major awards in the last 3 years, despite the students facing fierce competition for each of them. Our MArch students have won 6 competitions in this period, which is truly remarkable.”
Bath students win top spots designing the City of Tomorrow
Bath students also dominated the City of Tomorrow International Student Design Competition, organised by think tank InfraVision as part of Paris InfraWeek. The challenge invited participants to reimagine urban infrastructure, including transport, energy, telecommunications and water networks, for future cities.
From 95 teams across 42 countries, only three finalists were invited to present their ideas to judges at the Ministry of Finance in Paris.
Two teams of MArch Architecture students presented their final year MArch Design Studio projects to the judging panel. Joel Boyd, Siena Cornish, Jamie Ferguson, Ben Hanger, Beth Kippin, and Marco Lin won first prize and €10,000 with their Bhopal-based project, while Caitlin Boeshart-Thomas, Sophie Davies, Alice Kimpton, Caitlin Meier and Amy Thompson took second place and €7,000 for their project reimagining city networks in Derry/ Londonderry.
Professor Wright added: “We were delighted by the success of our teams in the InfraVision competition, one of the most valuable international competitions in our sector. It was a wonderful opportunity for both teams to present their ideas to high-profile delegates from all around the world. For our students to come first and second, in a competition with entries from 42 different countries, is extraordinary.”
Summarising the winning scheme, the judging panel said: “Ambitious, thoughtful, and a delight to read, this proposal won us over for many reasons: a clear theory of change; a strong anchor in a five-minute living framework; and excellent analysis across two scales: the citywide structure and a constellation of small interventions. It successfully delves into the full complexity of rejuvenating a city, skilfully assembling proven ideas and showing how to make them politically viable, while communicating with rare clarity and freshness. Richly crafted representations make the vision tangible and joyful. The result is a rare balance of depth and clarity with an actionable pathway.”