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
- Church Architecture Awards 2025
EASA has again worked with the National Churches Trust to organise the 2025 UK Church Architecture Awards, which were presented at EASA’s postponed AGM and Autumn Meeting on January 15th 2026.
This year twenty projects in total were entered for the two main awards, the Presidents’ Award for new church architecture and the King of Prussia Gold Medal for conservation and repair work. Five candidates for the Young Church Architect or Surveyor of the Year were among the short-listed entries.
Presidents’ Award
Winner: St Win’s, Totton, by Snug Architects
The winner of the Presidents’ Award was St Win’s, Totton, by Snug Architects. The existing building is a 20th century church by N F Cachemaille-Day. The design introduced a more legible and generous lobby, a welcoming café, a flexible hall, upgraded toilets, and thoughtfully decorated interiors – transforming both the functionality and warmth of the space. The café, nestled between the outer arches, activates the building’s frontage, while essential repairs, new heating, lighting, and sound systems ensure comfort and longevity.Highly Commended: St Mary’s, Handsworth by Clews Architects
One scheme was Highly Commended in the same category. St Mary’s, Handsworth is a Grade II listed church with 12th century origins, which has been boldly reordered by Clews Architects to support contemporary worship and wider community use. The project introduces a new floor, underfloor heating, mobile furniture, and discreet modern facilities, improving flexibility, accessibility, and environmental performance. Throughout, the design responds sensitively to the historic fabric, balancing conservation with thoughtful change. The result is a renewed setting for worship and community life, enhancing comfort, usability, and energy efficiency in what has been dubbed the ‘Cathedral of the Industrial Revolution.’
King of Prussia Gold Medal
Winner: St Oswald’s, Askrigg by Donald Insall Associates
This year’s King of Prussia Gold Medal was awarded to Donald Insall Associates for St Oswald’s, Askrigg, Yorkshire. This project was undertaken to try to resolve the long-standing issue of damp in the church and tower, causing mould and decay. The proposed solution was to use the traditional construction technique of lime coating to combat moisture penetration. This method was supported by extensive research. It turned out that an original lime coat had been removed by the Victorians. The tower’s new look sparked national interest, drawing new visitors to the church and village.Highly Commended was St Mary, Stonham Parva, Suffolk, a Grade I listed medieval church vested in the Churches Conservation Trust. The tiled nave roof has a fine 15th century oak double hammerbeam roof structure. Affected by death watch beetle attacks, moisture and movement, the structure had been reported to be in poor structural condition for some years. The architects Freeland Rees-Roberts Associates worked closely with structural engineers and conservation contractors to repair the oak structure, sensitively embellishing new piece repairs with matching carving where appropriate, before the roof was re-tiled and rainwater goods were improved. The internal lime plaster was repaired and limewashed.
The Young Church Architect or Surveyor
The Young Church Architect or Surveyor of the year this year was Libby Watts for her work at St Mary the Virgin, Turville, Berkshire. This 12th century landmark in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was the setting for TV series “The Vicar of Dibley”. The church underwent essential and comprehensive repair works in 2024 following years of neglect and inappropriate past interventions. Guided by S.P.A.B. principles, the project focused on conserving historic fabric using traditional materials.
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.