Inaugural Award of the Jonathan Speirs Scholarship Fund

The Trustees of the Jonathan Speirs Scholarship Fund are pleased to announce that its inaugural award has been made to Alex Stewart, a second year Masters student from the School of Architecture at Parsons, The New School for Design, New York. The announcement was made at the WIN Awards at the Saatchi Gallery, London on Thursday 28th November.

Alex was selected from a strong field of candidates drawn from schools of architecture in the UK and US.  A detailed selection process ultimately determined that the combination of Alex’s architectural skills, his passion for light and the strong recommendation received from his university made him the worthy winner of the £10,000 scholarship. The funding will be used to support his ongoing education and investigation into the relationship between light and architecture.

Chairman of the JSSF John Roake spoke on behalf of the Trustees of the Jonathan Speirs Scholarship Fund:

“I am delighted to have made this first award. Whilst the selection process was tough thanks to the very strong field of candidates, it was a unanimous decision to make Alex the first JSSF Scholar.  His love of architecture and light was transparent from the outset but it was his enthusiasm, professionalism and warmth that reminded us so much of the individual at whose behest this scholarship has been set up.”

Alex Stewart commented:

“It is an honor to be selected as the Jonathan Speirs scholarship winner, and to be the inaugural year makes it even more special. I see myself as a steward for the award and Jonathan’s memory moving forward. He sounded like a truly wonderful man. I only wish I had had the opportunity to meet him. However, his legacy most certainly lives on. Thank you for this distinction.”

John Roake concluded with a plea for ongoing support:

“This award was only made possible because of the incredible generosity of a number of companies and individuals who came forward with donations. It is our stated intention that we will make a minimum of one award each year until 2023.  To that end we still need further financial help. We would therefore like to use this opportunity to appeal to companies, professional practices and individuals who both knew Jonathan or benefitted from his incredible insight into light and architecture to give generously going into the future.”

Details of the Jonathan Speirs Scholarship Fund, including ways to donate, are available at www.jssf.org.uk.

06 Dec