Westminster alumnus wins 2023 RIBA President’s Bronze Medal

RIBA awards its President’s Bronze Medal annually for the best undergraduate design project. Kacper’s project, titled Council for Ecological Restoration, blurs the boundary between the built and natural worlds by integrating them into one. The building's design intentionally encourages overgrowth over its lifespan, ultimately transforming it into a habitat for non-human entities, while maintaining indoor spaces for human occupants. The building's façade serves as a transitional zone, fostering coexistence between humans and non-humans, encouraging them to share the same space.

The building also encourages political discussion and ecological research, as its main goal is to help restore nature and local ecology. Among its many sustainable features, the construction uses recycled timber, so as time goes on, the building materials can be returned back to nature, aiding nutrient cycles and helping the natural world around it thrive. Its strong focus on sustainability saw him also win the RIBA Part 1 Award for Sustainable Design earlier this year.

Speaking about the project, Kacper said: “The project idea mostly began with a book I read as part of the studio brief titled Half-Earth Socialism. It touches upon the concept of legality within the natural world and emphasises the need to embrace a biocentric perspective to ensure its preservation. From there, the project brief transformed into a large-scale initiative, drawing inspiration from the United Nations Decade for Restoration. It envisions the protection and regeneration of ecosystems through political deliberation and global collaboration at multiple scales.”

The project shares a balance between theoretical concepts and practical feasibility, as it can realistically be constructed. During the design process, Kacper looked at a lot of existing buildings and their functionality to ensure that his design would work. He envisioned it as a blueprint that could be easily implemented and deconstructed when needed, with minimal carbon footprint.

About the award Kacper said: “Receiving this award is such a great honour. I would like to express my gratitude to RIBA and the judges for selecting my project and for offering architecture students worldwide an opportunity to showcase their work. I’d like to also thank my tutors who helped me in pushing the project beyond its limits, and to the course leader and head of school for nominating my project among others. I want to extend this thank you to everyone who was involved in the project throughout the year, as it would not have been possible without their contributions and guidance.”

Commenting on Kacper’s achievement, Dr Eric Guibert, Senior Lecturer of Architecture and Kacper's former tutor, said: “I am so proud of Kacper Sehnke being awarded the RIBA President Bronze Medal, the highest accolade for a Bachelor student in the UK, and the Medal for Sustainability, for a project he designed as a student in our studio. 

“His exceptional commitment has led to a scheme that ambitiously speculates on, and elegantly gives form to the potentials of the nascent field of regenerative architecture we have been investigating since 2018. The scheme is exceptional as it is equally highly speculative and witty, while being a believable and buildable proposal that uses biological and technical circularity. It nurtures regeneration at multiple scales, from the global, to the local context, site, and the building fabric.”

Professor Harry Charrington, Head of School of Architecture + Cities, added: “Kacper’s two awards reflect his remarkable creativity and endeavour, and exemplify our School’s commitment to inclusive excellence and regenerative design. They also embody the wit and care of our staff, in particular his Design Studio tutors Eric Guibert and Bruce Irwin, as well as the Architecture BA Honours Course Team led by Paolo Zaide.”

Find more about the School of Architecture + Cities at the University of Westminster.