Student project wins Liverpool Architecture Society prize
A building conceived by LJMU Architecture students has won a first prize at the Liverpool Architectural Society Awards.
The Callister garden pavilion, which opened in the grounds of an historic Wirral space last June, scooped Best Community Project and was designed by LJMU principal lecturer Dominic Wilkinson with Smith Young Architects.
The pavilion is a sustainable structure in timber, with rainwater harvesting and a green roof, and compliments the existing garden to offer a place for community events with a meeting space, storage and toilets.
It started life as a feasibility study undertaken by Masters in Architecture students at LJMU as a ‘Live Project’.
Professionalism
The students - Adam Webb, Alice Jones, Mark Barlow, Nurul Aisyah Ibrahim, Zamira Athila, William Ekuban and Adam Shallcross – have long graduated but inspired the project with their professionalism and dedication.
Being able to work on a live project while at university was incredibly rewarding
Adam Shallcross, Masters in Architecture graduate
Adam, now a qualified project architect at NC Architecture, Manchester, said: “It was amazing to work with the Callister Trust during the early design stages of their new pavilion. To see the project now complete and having such a positive impact on the community is beyond what our LJMU group could have hoped for.
“Being able to work on a real world project whilst at university was incredibly rewarding and I’m proud that the pavilion has been recognised with such an award.”
The building was opened in summer 2025 by the Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside Angela Samata in the presence of mayor and mayoress Brian and Helen Kenny and trustee councillor Allan Brame.
'Live projects'
The Callister Trust, a charity established in 1926 to provide safe recreational spaces for women and girls in Birkenhead raised the £250,000 budget through grants before work started on site in 2024.
Dominic Wilkinson said he was proud of the award but also of the students on the MArch programme.
“The work of students was important in setting the project parameters for the Trust so this is a great example of our ‘live projects’ in action.
The LAS awards received 65 entries across eight categories from practices based in Merseyside for projects ranging from the Hill Dickinson Stadium to the reinstatement of the Queensway Tunnel monument.
