LSA tutor wins Young Architect of the Year 2025
Posted on: 20 October, 2025
Mat Barnes from CAN (left) wins Young Architect of the Year 2025 (c) Chris Sharp
One of our Architecture tutors has been awarded the distinguished Young Architect of the Year 2025 title for their practice CAN.
Mat Barnes collected the accolade at the Architect of the Year Awards, which celebrate emerging practices and rising stars across the architecture sector.
In accepting the prize, Mat said: “Massively grateful for this recognition of the studio’s output. A huge thank you to the team, our collaborators and our clients. A small practice with big ideas.”
‘Socially conscious architecture’
The judging panel praised CAN’s work for its vibrancy and social consciousness: “CAN’s vibrant, socially conscious architecture brings joy and inclusivity to every project. With bold creativity and deep community engagement, their work inspires and empowers – making them outstanding winners of Young Architect of the Year and emerging leaders in the profession.”
CAN describes itself as “an architecture and ideas studio”, designing “architecture and objects that subvert the ordinary and enhance everyday life”.
Since its founding in 2016, the studio pursues spaces which engage with cultural and historic contexts while seeking joy, inclusivity and a sense of place.
Storytelling, heritage and nature
As one project description puts it: “Our spaces and objects amplify cultural contexts by challenging their physical and social limits.”
Mat, featured as one of RIBA Journal’s ‘Rising Stars’ in 2021, said that storytelling, heritage and nature feed into his architectural ideas, “making the city a more joyful, inclusive and exciting place to live and work.”
Prior to founding CAN, Mat was an Associate at Studio 54 Architecture, where he worked on award-winning infill housing projects for Peabody and a complex scheme in Camden.
Architect of the Year Awards
The Architect of the Year Awards were established in 2004 by Building Design (BD) magazine to celebrate excellence and innovation across UK architectural practice.
With CAN’s recognition and Mat’s role as tutor at the London School of Architecture, which has merged with the University of the Built Environment, BD’s Young Architect award highlights the calibre of practice connected to our teaching.
Congratulations to Mat and the CAN team on this well-deserved honour.
