JACOB Hodgson of the Manchester School of Architecture has been crowned the winner of the 3DReid Student Prize 2026, following a competition that showcased some of the UK’s most promising emerging architectural talent.
The annual prize celebrates innovative thinking, design excellence and a commitment to addressing the environmental and societal challenges facing the built environment. This year’s competition attracted 22 submissions from architecture schools across the UK, with five finalists invited to present their work to a panel of industry judges at 3DReid’s London studio.
3DReid said Jacob’s winning project, Credit Landscapes, stood out for its ‘thoughtful and holistic’ response to environmental challenges by challenging the current approach to safeguarding the UK’s habitats through Biodiversity Net Gain calculations. Bringing together social, economic and ecological considerations, the proposal presented a vision for long-term landscape transformation and changing ecologies. The judging panel commended the project’s maturity, highlighting its ‘strong commercial understanding, confident presentation and exceptional graphic communication’.
The final brought together five projects that explored themes including population and climate change, reuse and even the construction of a Scottish winery in a global warming future.
Shortlisted entrants included:
- Bridget Schneider & Hussien Khalil, University of Dundee, The Eucalyptus Project
- Jacob Hodgson, Manchester School of Architecture, Credit Landscapes
- Nikki Mrkic-Smith, Newcastle University, The Glass is Half Full
- Raven Schneider, Leicester School of Architecture, Rewilding the Machine City
- Takuyu Hirosaki, University of Bath, Productive Spine
Judging chair, 3DReid MD Graham Hickson-Smith, said, “We’ve been running this prize for 20 years now and it never ceases to surprise and enthuse us. The quality of critical thinking and creativity continues to amaze me. This year’s entries have continued to raise the bar and my congratulations go to all those nominated, shortlisted and of course our winner Jacob. I look forward to watching your careers develop over the coming years.”
