Peter Barber
As one of Britain’s most acclaimed architects and founder of Peter Barber Architects, Peter’s practice focuses on social housing and urban planning. He has been widely celebrated for his inventive approach to design, delivering innovative housing which is both high-quality and affordable. Barber has also developed a number of speculative projects which respond to issues including the housing crisis, the climate emergency, and the revitalisation of de-industrialised areas.
Peter Barber, 2022 Soane Medal winner, said: “I am so thrilled to have been awarded this year’s Soane Medal. To be part of such an illustrious group of winners was both a lovely surprise and an honour. Soane was an inventive architect, and I hope that we continue to build on his legacy of experimenting with classical ideas and styles. At a time of such uncertainty, it’s really great to see social housing centre stage.”
In recent years Peter and his firm have received several awards, including a lifetime achievement award from the Architects’ Journal and IBA Neave Brown Award for Housing 2021. He was awarded an OBE for services to architecture last year and elected as a Royal Academician in January. Alongside his practice, Peter lectures on architecture at the University of Westminster and was recently invited by the government to lead a discussion on "Designing for Better Public Spaces" with a team of top built environment professionals.
Find out more about Peter's architecture through the words of his contemporaries, colleagues, and those who've benefited from his work: read our Five Voices on Peter Barber, including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
About the Soane Medal
The Soane Medal was established by Sir John Soane’s Museum in 2017 and continues the mission of the Museum’s founder, the celebrated Regency architect Sir John Soane, to encourage a better understanding of the central importance of architecture in culture and society. The Medal recognises architects, educators and critics who have made a major contribution to their field through practice, history or theory.
The recipient receives a replica of the original gold medal presented to Sir John Soane by the ‘Architects of England’ in 1835. Sir John Soane’s Museum also issues a publication marking the occasion. The inaugural Soane Medal winner in 2017 was the Spanish architect, Rafael Moneo. Subsequent winners were Denise Scott Brown (2018), Kenneth Frampton (2019) and Marina Tabassum (2021).
