Awards

Awards

• UK Church Architecture Awards 2026

  We are once again delighted to announce the launch of the UK Church Architecture Awards for 2026 organised in conjunction with the National Churches Trust.

  The UK Church Architecture Awards are the only national awards devoted to church buildings. The awards have showcased many exemplary projects over the years. Churches can be from any Christian denomination but must remain in use for worship. Full criteria are set out on the awards page of the National Churches Trust website.

  Award Categories

  As in previous years, the awards comprise three categories:

  • The King of Prussia Gold Medal, for outstanding conservation or repair work.
  • The Presidents’ Award, for new church buildings, re-orderings, extensions and alterations to existing church buildings.
  • The Young Church Architect or Surveyor of the Year Award.

  How to Enter

  The entry form is available from the National Churches Trust website: https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/impact/awards/architecture2026

  The entry process requires completion of a simple form and the preparation of two graphic panels explaining the project.

About the Awards

The Church Architecture Awards are run by the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association and the National Churches Trust.

The Presidents’ Award

First awarded in 1999, it is named after three presidents: The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York as Joint Presidents of the National Churches Trust, and the EASA President. The award is given for the best example of new design in re-ordering, alterations, extensions or new buildings which are specifically for liturgical use.

Award nominations are considered by the Association in conjunction with the National Churches Trust (formerly the ICBS) and awarded at the EASA Annual General Meeting. The award is given to the designer and the ICBS Chalice and Paten are lent to the winning parish to be held by them for the next year. The winning church or chapel will receive a £500 prize.

The King of Prussia Gold Medal

An award for the scheme of innovative, high quality church conservation or repair that overcomes the greatest aesthetic or technical challenge.

The award was established in 1844 by Christophe Karl Pfeuffer. He was a medallist and coin engraver who in 1840 received an appointment at the Berlin Mint. In 1845 he was promoted to the rank of first medallist to the Mint and was described as a person who was well endowed by nature, who modelled quickly and carefully, and took good likeness, but was perhaps too hasty and prolific. His medal of the Third Century of the Reformation at Berlin in 1839 is considered one of his most successful productions.

The Association is fortunate that our Patron Prince Nicholas von Preussen is a direct descendant of the King of Prussia for whom the medal was made. Prince Nicholas often tells the story of how it was presented to the ICBS (Incorporated Church Building Society) who did not know who to award it to, so it lay in an office drawer for many years until found in the 1960s. Today it is awarded annually. 

The Gold Medal was the gift of King Freidrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia in 1857 who was highly impressed with British Victorian church architecture. The architects responsible for the winning project will receive the prestigious King of Prussia Gold Medal.

The Young Architect or Surveyor of the Year

Introduced in 2016, the ‘Young Architect or Surveyor of the Year’ award is available to an architect under 40 who has been responsible for a shortlisted design of either a scheme for The King of Prussia Gold Medal or The Presidents’ Award.