SGLD Student Awards 2026 winners announced
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Design for the Environment Award was presented to Robbie Avey
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In the Public Realm category, Michael Kieck
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The Large Domestic Garden Award went to Grace Hugh-Jones
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Small Domestic Garden category was awarded to Laura Bushnell
The Society of Garden & Landscape Designers (SGLD) has announced the winners of the SGLD Student Awards 2026, celebrating exceptional emerging talent in garden and landscape design from leading colleges across the UK.
Judges selected four winning projects that demonstrated outstanding creativity, technical skill and a sophisticated understanding of planting, place and people-focused design. They praised the finalists’ confidence, clarity of thought and imaginative communication of complex ideas.
The Design for the Environment Award was presented to Robbie Avey from the KLC School of Design for Wolves Lane, a community-led growing hub in North London reimagined as a landscape where food production, wellbeing and ecology coexist through innovative water management.
In the Public Realm category, Michael Kieck from the London College of Garden Design won for The Indalo Project, transforming an agricultural site in South Africa’s Eastern Cape into a biodiverse centre for learning and cultural exchange rooted in indigenous ecology and sustainable design.
The newly introduced Small Domestic Garden category was awarded to Laura Bushnell from the London College of Garden Design for The Lost River Garden, a layered family garden in Peckham inspired by the buried River Peck and integrating sustainable materials and wildlife-friendly planting.
The Large Domestic Garden Award went to Grace Hugh-Jones, also from the London College of Garden Design, for Damson Cottage, an immersive garden responding sensitively to a sloping site overlooking the Avon Valley with dynamic planting and carefully framed views.
Two projects received Highly Commended status: North End House by Helen Swan of the KLC School of Design and The Nurture Fertility Clinic by Sally Jane Robinson of Cornwall College, both praised for their sensitive responses to landscape and context.
SGLD Chair Andrew Duff MSGLD said the projects reflect a generation of designers deeply engaged with today’s challenges, adding that the future of the profession is in very good hands as these students enter the industry.
For more information, visit www.sgld.org.uk.