StuCAN Student Competition 2025 Entries

Winner – ‘Tangled Roots’ by Luc Harris and Tom Williams, University of Wales Trinity St David

The panel praised ‘Tangled Roots’ as a “beautifully considered response that embodies the very spirit of what this competition set out to inspire. With elegant restraint, the project embraces material honesty, adaptability, and clarity of purpose. It creates not just a structure, but a platform—for connection, dialogue, activism, and community.”

The designers demonstrated a thoughtful approach to every detail: from material selection and reusability to transportability and ease of assembly. “It’s a project that speaks softly but carries lasting impact—flexible, intentional, and deeply aligned with the values of this initiative.”

Runner Up – ‘Material Ex:change’ by Lok Yiu Chow (Charlotte), University of Nottingham

The proposal offered a set of modular parts which could be set up in multiple configurations depending on need and situation. “We liked the possibility for a collaborative making process with easily available tools and materials, as well as the consideration for accommodating a wide range of activities.” The judges were also impressed with the consideration on the end of life of the project, as well as “the intricate exploration of material connections through timber joinery, and the project’s strong presentation skills.”

Commended – ‘Eco Portal’ by Vyshnavi, Birmingham City University

Eco Portal charmed the judges with its “activist architect language and intent, allowing the structure to be appropriated for protests, workshops and gatherings whilst being lightweight to transport and quickly assembled by participants with mixed abilities.” The judges also appreciated “the rigour to which carbon calculations, costing and material life cycles were researched, explored and presented, creating a comprehensive and thoughtful response to the brief.”

Commended – ‘Ephemeral Bio-Hub’ by Marco Antonio Paz-Garcia, Robert Gordon University

“The Ephemeral Bio-Hub considered the needs of a Climate Action Headquarters to have work space and protection from the elements, and offered creative alternative uses for the modular building. We liked the use of the wall panels as material showcases and the transition between internal and external spaces.” The judges particularly enjoyed the concept of longer term inhabitation and adaptation of the headquarters by volunteers, as well as the “joyful use of model making, material experimentation and fire safety testing in the proposal.”

Commended – ‘Heterogeneous Homogeneity’ by Venisse Low Wen Juin, Kennedy Chee Xiao Yang & Evelyn Chui Lok Ching, University of Bath

Heterogeneous Homogeneity impressed the judges with its approach on varying modes of existence – from a platform of protest, to forum and workshop. “There was an elegant simplicity in how a “furniture” scale model can simply be aggregated and assembled to create a greater purpose that evolves over time as it moves location. The judges commended the thought process behind the life cycle comparison of the proposed materials, especially when considering the use of found objects from different universities and re-use of “waste”. “

The judges were delighted to see a strong focus on materiality, mobility, legacy and spatial configurations for climate action across all competition entries, with each one shaped by diverse design sensibilities and influenced by the educational and cultural contexts from which the students were working. Read on to hear their full thoughts! We’ve asked them to share their thoughts on the competition and what stood out to them:

For the first time, our competition has included students from outside the UK, and we were greatly inspired by the rigour and consideration applied to local bioregions and available materials. As StuCAN expands, we would love to collaborate with all the entrants to increase collective climate action between universities around the world, and we hope that this competition facilitates future partnerships and student mobilisation!

As the future generation of built environment professionals, students are acutely placed to enact real change within the profession and our shared planet. The entries shown here evoke a keen understanding and determination towards tackling the climate and ecological crises, as well as embracing the power of collective student action to shape the future. Above all, all of the projects present a hopeful vision for what StuCAN and our education can become.

Our hopeful vision for the future and legacy of the competition is for the winning design to be realised – collectively built by students, adapting as it travels to different universities across the UK and beyond, and most importantly, sparking student climate action, encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing throughout our StuCAN network. Watch this space!

For now, a huge congratulations again to all participants for your achievements!