Top Awards for Northumbria Architecture students

Two Northumbria students have been announced as winner at the RIBA North East Student Awards for RIBA Part 1 and RIBA Part 2. These wins continue a successful run for our Architecture students, following recognition at the Architects for Health Student Design Awards and the RIBAJ/Future Architects Film Competition 2025.

RIBA North East Student Awards

The RIBA North East Student Awards aim to celebrate the talent of students from the Schools of Architecture at Newcastle University and Northumbria University. The awards reward students in the pursuit of excellence in the study of architecture.

Final year BA student Ian Dominguez won the Part 1 Award with The Engine Wharf, his final undergraduate design project, which was ambitious in scope, proposing a new ferry terminal at the heart of wider strategy to regenerate a former shipyard in Hebburn, on the banks of the River Tyne.

The ferry terminal building remembers the scale and materiality of the ships once constructed and repaired on the site of the Hawthorn Leslie Docks. Shaun Young, Assistant Professor in Architecture and one of Ian’s tutors noted that “from the outset, Ian’s approach to the project was imaginative, methodologically innovative, and personal to him”. Alongside a study exploring the architecture of the high-tech movement, he used intricate models and drawings to draw-out the latent architectural potential of steam turbines – a world changing technological innovation synonymous with the North East – to develop a memorable, and suitably heroic architectural language for the project.

Following his win, Ian commented:

“Winning this recognition is incredibly rewarding. The ferry terminal merges a high-tech system with the forms of a steam-engine vessel, reconnecting Newcastle with its maritime identity on an international stage”.

Speaking of his win judge Maria Wood, Part II Architectural Assistant at Faulkner Browns, said;

“Ian approached the challenge of international transport in the context of the climate crisis with an exciting and radical vision. Hi use of models to communicate the narrative and user experience of the building was fantastic, allowing for a tangible understanding of the design.”

Degree Apprenticeship student Lee Thackray won the Part 2 Award for his project entitled Momentum, described by Professor in Architecture, Paul Jones as,

“A visionary and timely architectural statement, representing the second coming of Newcastle as an innovative powerhouse – reigniting the city’s Victorian legacy of engineering and invention”.

At the heart of the scheme is a bold new Museum and Innovation Centre that is a civic landmark and energy infrastructure, incorporating adaptable and demountable exhibition technologies capable of hosting large-scale mock-ups of Newcastle’s historic innovations e.g. Stephenson’s steam engine and Armstrong’s high-pressure hydraulics. Designed with clean lines and aerodynamic forms, the building draws from the spirit of the Hi-Tech movement, using innovative environmental materials. Hydraulic technologies facilitate the architecture to rise, fall, and morph in response to events.

Power is drawn from tidal turbines in the Tyne, with an educational hub allowing visitors to witness renewable energy in action. New carbon-sequestering chimneys double as climate infrastructure and sculptural urban markers, supporting a factory that produces building blocks from captured CO₂. The project reinstates Pottery Lane as a vital node in the city, activating the adjacent viaduct with flexible innovation start-up spaces and creating a new event zone for public gathering. A funicular connects the Quayside to the upper town, resolving historic access challenges dating back to Roman times.

Speaking about the win, Lee said:

“I am truly honoured to have won the RIBA North East Student Award Part II. It is down to the exceptional guidance from my Design Tutor, and the amazing support from the tutors in the Architecture department at Northumbria University. “

Ryan Braithwaite, an Architect at Nicholson Nairn and a member of the judging panel and was very impressed with Lee’s work, saying:

“A genuinely superb project which leaves few stones unturned. High execution and resolution across all elements; the boards are finished to a very high graphical standard with logical hierarchy of renders and drawings. Amazing understanding of advanced sustainable technologies and the reusability of different components throughout the scheme.”

Architects for Health Student Design Awards

Amelia Swaby, a third-year degree apprentice at Northumbria and Architectural Designer at P+HS Architects was highly commended in the MA Architecture category of the Architects for Health Student Design Awards for her project The Nature of Therapy. The design seeks to provide a much-needed rehabilitation facility for alcohol dependency alongside mental health support in the Northeast region, utilising nature to aid recovery and encourage people to reconnect with the landscape whilst breaking down the stigmas surrounding mental health and addiction.

The 2025 awards were highly competitive, with submissions from 15 schools of architecture and design, including courses in architecture, interior and spatial design and landscape architecture, from the UK and internationally, including entrants from Australia, Sweden, Canada, Netherlands and Japan.

The commendation was presented at an award ceremony hosted by Perkins&Will on 10 July and followed on from a Student Seminar in which Amelia also won Best Presentation. Speaking about the award Amelia said:

“I am exceptionally grateful to have received both Highly Commended in the MA Architecture Award and Best Presentation in the Student Seminar at the Architects for Health Student Design Awards 2025 and also receive the GT3 Architects People Prize at Northumbria’s REVEAL Degree Show.

“I couldn’t have done it without the support and guidance from my design tutor Daniel Goodricke, all the Degree Apprenticeship tutors at Northumbria and my outstanding colleagues at P+HS Architects.”

RIBAJ/Future Architects Film Competition 2025

Katherine McKay, also known as Kitty, was awarded a commendation in the RIBAJ/Future Architects Film Competition 2025 for her film Inhabitation, which explored the relationship between architecture and raving with footage, quotes and a passionate voice-over. Architectural photographer Edmund Sumner was one of the panel of judges, speaking of the film he said, ‘This is a subject close to my heart, made better by some fine music and striking imagery.’