Planted, in partnership with Vectorworks, is delighted to reveal the finalists of the Design for Renegeration UK-wide student design competition, championing the next generation of regenerative designers
Students from across the country were invited to submit projects which reimagine the built and natural world through regenerative design. The competition was open to students studying architecture, interior and landscape design, furniture, product and industrial design.
“The calibre of this year’s finalists demonstrate an extraordinary breadth of imagination and rigour, with projects that not only minimise environmental harm but actively seek to regenerate ecosystems and communities. From innovative uses of natural materials to socially driven solutions, these students are setting a new benchmark for how design can shape a more resilient and restorative future.” Said Deborah Spencer, Co-founder of Planted
The finalists were selected from hundreds of courses across the UK, judged on creativity, innovation, material choices, aesthetics, and crucially clear regenerative intent. The panel looked for designs that not only minimise harm to natural ecosystems, but also actively contribute to their restoration and renewal from individuals producing the most outstanding concepts in architecture, interior and design.
Design for regeneration finalists
1. Charlotte Carlyle from Leeds Beckett University (BA Hons Architecture) – The Entropic Sanctuary. A living architecture born from water and decay where biophilia, entropy, and regenerative design converge to form a sanctuary that breathes, grows, and gently disappears.
Judges’ comments:
“This project reimagines York’s flood-prone riverbank as a biophilic sanctuary, treating flooding as a catalyst for architecture and biodiversity. With strong regenerative ambition and site-specific storytelling, it weaves ecology, community, and heritage into a restorative vision.”
2. Bryn White from University of Gloucestershire (MA Landscape Architecture) – Western Harbour Park, Bristol. A place where people and nature coexist, demonstrating how post-industrial spaces can harness natural processes to restore ecological health and community
Judges’ comments
“This project reimagines a fragmented post-industrial site as a regenerative landscape that is ecological, educational, and social. Through strategies such as soil remediation, floating wetlands, adaptive reuse, and community programming, it demonstrates technical rigour, innovation, and transparency. Deeply rooted in Bristol’s ecology and heritage, it delivers a compelling vision for a restorative urban future.”
3. Jamie Ferguson from University of Bath (MA Architecture) – Kahani: A Stone and Bamboo Pattern Book for a Regenerative Bhopal. Kahani is a pattern book for a regenerative reimagining of live-work housing across Bhopal and India; the book entails construction details for bamboo and stone, encouraging low-carbon bioregional innovation.
Judges’ comments:
“This project systemically rethinks mass housing in India for deep regeneration, marrying environmental impact with bioregional craft. The pattern book offers directly replicable, modular, low-carbon details; research and prototyping show rigour. Highly innovative (pre-fab bamboo stone hybrids, modernist/vernacular fusion), with clear data on carbon savings.”
4. Adam Saint from Leeds Beckett University (BA hons Architecture) – The Metamorphic Ruins. A living archive and progressive sanctuary where architecture, ecology and time converge, inviting humans and wildlife to coexist, observe and shape a shared evolving landscape.
Judges’ comments:
“An excellent example of protecting historic sites using both traditional and contemporary design. This project reimagines the Antonine Wall and Rough Fort as evolving ecologies, using controlled decay, biodiversity, water management, and reversible structures to link built form, landscape, and community stewardship.”
5. Polina Bielova from University of East London (BA Hon Interior Design) – From Waste to Wellness. A Regenerative Restaurant Experience. A regenerative restaurant under a historic London archway that uses biophilic design, mycelium materials, and aeroponic technologies to transform food, space, and trash into a circular living experience.
Judges’ comments:
“This project combines circular food systems, mycelium innovation, and biophilic design to enhance environmental and community health. Rooted in Borough Market’s heritage, it weaves food, architecture, and ecology into an immersive, multi-sensory journey.”
6. Erin McCaffrey from University of Cambridge (MA Architecture) – Towards the River Clyde. Reusing local tenement sandstone, the proposed coastal park invites residents to engage with memory, nature, and leisure along the River Clyde’s transformed ex-industrial edge.
Judges’ comments:
“The project takes a regenerative, place-based approach—reusing local sandstone, transforming Port Glasgow’s industrial shore, and embracing tidal ecologies for recreation, renewal, and community benefit. Its innovation lies in carbon-cutting circularity, habitat creation, and the integration of social, educational, and ecological ambitions, all grounded in local heritage and community engagement.”
SEE ALL FINALISTS HERE
The next stage of the Planted x Vectorworks student competition will see the six finalists assessed at the Vectorworks Design Day conference at the Royal College of Physicians in London on Tuesday 14 October 2025. The top three submissions will then present their work to a live audience of delegates to select the winning project. The top designer will receive a cash prize of £1,000, Vectorworks Design Suite one-year subscription, exposure through Planted and Vectorworks platforms, mentorship opportunities and a stay in Planted’s Cabin at River Cottage.
Judges included Planted co-founder Deborah Spencer, whose career began at New Designers and who later founded the award-winning designjunction. Fellow Planted co-founder and former Sunday Times journalist Sam Peters, biophilic design expert Oliver Heath, and Professor Alia Fadel of Leeds Beckett University. They were joined by Tamsin Slatter, Director of Customer Experience at Vectorworks with a background in landscape design and training, and Martyn Horne, Product Marketing Director at Vectorworks with extensive expertise in BIM workflows and digital design innovation.
As a leading platform for sustainable design, Planted connects people, businesses, and ideas through events, content and collaborations that promote nature-based solutions and regenerative practices.
REGISTER FOR DESIGN DAYS CONFERENCE HERE
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