About the National Urban Design Awards

The National Urban Design Awards were established in 2007 by UDG founder member and fellow John Billingham, with the objective of giving more recognition to urban design work, particularly at project stage.

The Francis Tibbalds Trust, established in 1992 in memory of Francis Tibbalds, founder of the eponymous practice in 1978, founding Chairman of the UDG 1979, President of the RTPI 1988, and author of the seminal Making People Friendly Towns: Improving the Public Environment in Towns and Cities published porstumously1992, has been a stalwart partner, providing generously for the Awards and prizes to entries in the Practice Award and  Student Award.

The first prize in the Practice Award was presented to Urban Practitioners at a low-key event in The Gallery at Cowcross Street in September 2008. A further Award for Students was subsequently introduced with a prize of £600.

From these tentative beginnings the Awards went from strength to strength under John Billingham's guidance from 2007-2013, increasing in scale, profile and ambition. The UDG now runs an annual awards cycle which includes Private Practice, Public Sector, Student and Book Awards  plus a Lifetime Achievement, introduced in 2011, and an Outstanding Contribution recognition, introduced in 2017.

Entries are invited with a closing date in September each year.

The Awards ceremony in March is an evening dinner and presentations at a London venue, attracting a broad audience of built environment professionals, their clients, decision-makers and opinion-formers.

In 2017 the UDG welcomed Nidhi Bhargava, as successor to Noha Nasser (who was Chair of the Awards Working Group from 2013), to be the Convenor of the Urban Design Awards. 

With the continued support of the Francis Tibbalds Trust we remain true to our goals of celebrating the very best in urban design practice and encouraging collaboration, innovation and the sharing of ideas.

Previous Winners