RIBA Wren Insurance Association scholars
The RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarships have been awarded annually since 2013 to students in the final year of their Part 2 course. The recipients are outstanding Part 2 students who have the potential to make a significant contribution to architecture.
Recipients may use the scholarship in a variety of ways, from elaborating on an existing research interest and looking at how they might develop new ideas, to enabling time to scope different mechanisms and philosophies.
2024 winners
The five recipients of the 2024 RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarships, worth a total of £37,500, are:
- Alice Guglielmi - Central Saint Martins (UAL) (completed RIBA Part 1 at Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL)
- Abdullah Imran - University of Cambridge (completed RIBA Part 1 at University of Bath)
- Isobel Mills - Central Saint Martins (UAL) (completed RIBA Part 1 at University of Sheffield)
- Liam Philpot - Northumbria University (completed RIBA Part 1 at Northumbria University)
- Julia Wlodarczyk - University of Cambridge (completed RIBA Part 1 at Oxford Brookes University)
Each student will receive £7,500 and the opportunity to be mentored by an architect member of the Wren Insurance Association. The next application cycle will open in the spring of 2025.
Chairman of the Wren Insurance Association Chris Bennie said:
“The portfolio submissions in the applications for the Wren scholarship have been of the highest quality once again, exhibiting a breadth and diversity of vision which offers reassurance that the future of the profession is in safe hands. It continues to be our privilege to help nurture this talent through our awards, which alongside our offer of mentoring, will help to support them in their chosen fields during the final years of study. We congratulate all the applicants on the quality of their work and wish them continuing success in the year ahead.”
RIBA President Muyiwa Oki said:
“Thanks to the continued, generous contribution of the Wren Insurance Association, these five exceptional students will receive funding and mentoring to help them reach their full potential. I congratulate them all, and I look forward to seeing what they go on to achieve in their studies and careers, boosted by the support our scholarship offers.”
The 2024 judging panel consisted of:
- Albena Atanassova (Project Director at Scott Brownrigg) and Nicholas Szczepaniak (Director at Szczepaniak Teh) representing RIBA
- Jose Llaca Bastardo (Senior Architect at Marks Barfield Architects)
- Kossy Nnachetta (Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios)
- Ian Rudolph (Practice Director at Marks Barfield Architects)
- Marigold Webster (Wren Board member) representing the Wren Insurance Association
The 2024 winners responded to the news:
Alice Guglielmi, Central Saint Martins (UAL) (completed RIBA Part 1 at Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) said:
“I'm very grateful to be selected for this scholarship, and wish to wholeheartedly thank the RIBA and the Wren Insurance Association.
This support will ease a large financial burden and let me fully focus on completing my masters.
It will allow for cross-country travel to conduct field research into the gradual disappearance of leisure centres and other interclass third spaces, as well as enable the development of a more technologically ambitious proposal, building upon previous material experimentation.
The mentoring will provide another place for discussion and insight, and will set up further professional connections. I'm very excited."
Abdullah Imran, University of Cambridge (completed RIBA Part 1 at University of Bath) said:
“I'm deeply grateful to the RIBA and Wren Association for selecting me as a scholar and supporting my work for the year ahead.
The generous funding will enable a deep focus on my studies and empower me to model the tectonic aspects of my thesis, crucial elements in realising any reflective project. I will also expand upon my fieldwork through additional workshopping across the country, in study of British-Muslim communities and their relationship with civic expression.
I can't wait to broaden my outlook with an experienced mentor, and I believe in the power of mentorship in developing competent, dynamic professionals.”
Isobel Mills, Central Saint Martins (UAL) (completed RIBA Part 1 at University of Sheffield) said:
“I am extremely grateful to RIBA and the Wren Insurance Association for this incredible opportunity and believing in my motivations for my final year of master’s study and future architectural career. Their support, mentorship and financial assistance will alleviate the financial burdens inherent in architectural education, allowing me to fully commit to bringing my master’s project from paper to reality in order to create actual positive impacts. I am driven to challenge the male-dominated environment that persists within architecture and on the construction site. The grant will enable me to conduct participatory engagement workshops focusing on construction activism for women and young people who have been historically marginalised in the building of spaces. By emphasising material reuse with playful and ecological approaches, I aim to collaboratively transform neglected spaces, advocate for equality in spatial production and promote environmental and social justice.”
Liam Philpot, Northumbria University (completed RIBA Part 1 at Northumbria University) said:
“I am incredibly honoured to be selected as one of the recipients of the RIBA Wren Scholarship this year. The support and mentorship offered will be invaluable throughout my final year studies, which will significantly enhance my academic journey with the financial aid to take on a more experimental practice.
Furthermore, this opportunity will aid my developing research plans and contribute to the costs of delivering more ambitious wider engagement strategies. I’d like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the Wren Insurance Association for providing me with this opportunity and look forward to the final academic year ahead.”
Julia Wlodarczyk, University of Cambridge (completed RIBA Part 1 at Oxford Brookes University) said;
“I would like to express the greatest gratitude to the RIBA and Wren Insurance association for presenting me with the opportunity to advance my self-led design thesis beyond my course and develop my research in resilient design and the just transition.
The project in Belchatow, Poland, investigates the potential of Remizas, traditional community buildings/fire stations, to serve as platforms for social and political engagement in transitioning away from coal dependency for the region. I will aim to share my findings through exhibitions and publications and conduct further case study investigations, raising awareness about the role of architecture in social and political transformation.
The financial support will help me connect to an understudied field of research, which is critical to social development in the phasing out of traditionally fossil fuel areas and enabling representation for underrepresented and underserved groups of people.”
Previous scholars:
2023
Alfie Hollington - University of Strathclyde
Henry Aldridge - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Jeanette Aves - University of Cambridge
Maciej Aleksander Adaszewski - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Rowdah Charbak - Manchester School of Architecture
2022
Sarah Daoudi - University of Westminster
Oluwademilade Oyeyinka - Architectural Association
Chloe Shang - Royal College of Art
Rebecca Smith - RIBA Studio
Gabriella Watkins - University of Cambridge
2021
Lou Elena Bouey – University of Cambridge
Amy Crellin – University of Sheffield
Minh Le Pham Duc – Architectural Association School of Architecture
Lara Miller – University of Bath
Rasha Shrourou – Birmingham City University
2020
Richard Aina - Architectural Association
Ayanna Blair-Ford - Royal College of Art
Hunter Doyle - Architectural Association
Amber Godfrey - Royal College of Art
Cora McLean - London School of Architecture
2019
Shawn Adams - Royal College of Art
Laura Keay - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Dor Schindler - Architectural Association
Declan Wagstaff - Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Rosa Whiteley - Royal College of Art
2018
Thomas Badger - London School of Architecture
Larry Botchway - Royal College of Art
Love DiMarco - Architectural Association
Naomi Rubbra - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Dominic Walker - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
2017
Roberto Boettger - Architectural Association
Samuel Coulton - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Laurence Flint - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Anna Malicka - University of Westminster
Jack Sardeson - University of Cambridge
2016
Jordan Green - Cardiff University
Aidan Hermans - Royal College of Art
Matthew Lucraft - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Nathan Su - Architectural Association School of Architecture
Daniel Tang - London South Bank University
2015
Ruxandra Maria Gruioniu - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Lilly Ingleby - University of Sheffield
Johnny Lui - Royal College of Art
Alexander Mills - De Montfort University
Charles Proctor - Royal College of Art
2014
Thomas Glover - Royal College of Art
Keith Diplock - University of Kent
Lucy Moroney - Architectural Association
Rebecca Muirhead - Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Victoria Slater - University of Liverpool
2013
Laura Cannon - University of Dundee
Peter Garstecki - University of Westminster
Erl Johnston - Queen's University Belfast
Megan Passey - Oxford Brookes University
James Pockson - Royal College of Art
Information on the 2025/26 application cycle and format will be published in due course, but not before spring 2025.
If you have any questions about these scholarships, please contact student.support@riba.org.
