The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Medals Student Awards are considered the most prestigious and long-lasting awards in architectural education in the world. 

First awarded in 1836 as the RIBA Silver Medal for an architectural essay (and awarded from 1855 to ‘Measured Drawings’ produced by a talented graduate), this is the RIBA’s longest-living award (preceding the Royal Gold Medal, which was established in 1848). In 1984, the Institute decided to create a Bronze Medal to reward a Part 1 student while the Silver Medal was awarded to a Part 2 student. In 2001, a Dissertation Medal was added. Since its early days, the aim of the awards has been to promote excellence in the study of architecture, to reward talent and to encourage architectural debate worldwide. 

Each year the RIBA invites approximately 300 schools of architecture from over 60 countries to nominate design projects and dissertations produced by their students. Winners are announced in December at the annual President’s Medals ceremony at the RIBA headquarters in London where the Bronze, Silver and Dissertation Medals are presented. 

RIBA Silver Medal High Commendation:

• Amy Perkins, London Metropolitan University for Outer City Settlement: Reassessing the suburban situation of Hampstead Garden Suburb
• Vladislav Velkov, University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (Bulgaria) for Evolution of a building. The unexplored potential of a sugar factory in Sofia

The jury for the Silver Medal comprised of:

• David Gloster – RIBA Director of Education (not voting chair)
• Roz Barr – RIBA Vice-President Elect Education; Roz Barr Architects (UK)
• Elena Marco – Associate Head of Architecture, University of the West of England (UK)
• David Rieser – Winner of the 2012 RIBA President’s Silver Medal

?RIBA Bronze Medal Winner: Helsinki Archipelago Town Hall / Ness Lafoy, Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL

RIBA Bronze Medal High Commendation:

• Pierre Blanc, London Metropolitan University for Gubbio Lido: Recovering open space within the walled city
• Thomas Bush, De Montfort University for Myocardial Augmentation Facility, Orvieto, Italy
• Minghui Ke, Kingston University for UNESCO World Heritage: A contemporary art museum for Santa Chiara in Pisa, Italy

The jury for the Bronze Medal comprised of:

• David Gloster – RIBA Director of Education (not voting chair)
• Roz Barr – RIBA Vice-President Elect Education; Roz Barr Architects (UK)
• Peter Böhm – Peter Böhm Architects (Germany)
• Vidhya Pushpanathan – Winner of the 2012 RIBA President’s Bronze Medal
• Satwinder Samra – Senior Lecturer of Architecture (University of Sheffield, UK)

Dissertation Medal Winner: Tamsin Hanke / Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL

Dissertation Medal Commendations:

• Leah Hogan, University College Dublin for The Kahn Legacy: The primacy of the idea
• Shapur Keshvari, Kingston University for Rethinking the Tholos in the Athenian Agora
• Srisaravanan Subramaniam, the National University of Singapore for Seva & the Shrine: Transcending the boundaries of the Hindu temple in Singapore