The UK Church Architecture Awards honour excellence and creativity in church architecture. The Awards are run by the EASA and the National Churches Trust.
Awards
- 2023 UK Church Architecture Awards
The EASA and National Churches Trust are delighted that the 2023 UK Church Architecture Awards are open for entries. Apply by 23 July 2023.
The King of Prussia Gold Medal
The King of Prussia Gold Medal is for innovative, high quality church conservation or repair work. The award is made on behalf of the National Churches Trust and the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association.
Entry requirements
The King of Prussia Award is open to the architect or chartered surveyor on any scheme of repair for a church or chapel of any Christian denomination in the UK, in use for regular worship and over one hundred years old.
The Presidents’ Award
The Presidents’ Award is given for the best example of a new church building or for extensions to churches. The award is made on behalf of the National Churches Trust and the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association.
Entry requirements
The Presidents’ Award is open to projects at any church building of any Christian denomination across the UK. Projects are eligible if they have been completed within the last three years or after the Practical Completion stage of development.
Young Architect of the Year
The award is available to an architect who has been responsible for a shortlisted design for the King of Prussia Gold Medal or the Presidents’ Award. Nominations can be made on both forms.
We had some wonderful submissions, and brilliant winners in 2022. For inspiration, see them here:
https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/impact/awards/winners-2022
https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/impact/awards/finalists-2022
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.