Commendation in SAHGB IHBC Heritage Research Award 2025

Dring, Michael (Recipient)

Department of Architecture and Built Environment

Prize: Other distinction

Description

The SAHGB-IHBC Heritage Research Award recognises and celebrates the quality of architectural-historical research produced by colleagues in heritage and conservation practice, as private consultants and in non-departmental public bodies.

Judges: Neil Burton, Simon Green, Liz Green, Joanna Smith

Chair: John Cattell FSA IHBC

Awarded date	18 Dec 2025
Degree of recognition	National
Granting Organisations	The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain

Awarded at event

Event title	The 2025 SAHGB Annual Awards Ceremony
Location	St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, London, United KingdomShow on map
Period	18 Dec 2025 → 18 Dec 2025

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Documents & Links

Heritage Research The SAHGB-IHBC Heritage Research Award recognises and celebrates the quality of architectural-historical research produced by colleagues in heritage and conservation practice, as private consultants and in non-departmental public bodies. Judges: Neil Burton, Simon Green, Liz Green, Joanna Smith Chair: John Cattell FSA IHBC Commendation: Dr Michael Dring, Continuity in the Modernist City: The Heritage Activism of Save Smallbrook, Birmingham (Birmingham City University) The judges were impressed with this clearly written and passionate research submission focusing on James Roberts’s Brutalist late 1950s Smallbrook Ringway Centre adjoining the inner ring road in central Birmingham. Architectural analysis of the landmark complex in its inner-city context is put forward alongside a counter-proposal for its sustainable future with an emphasis on retention rather than demolition and reconstruction. Although a decision has been made to demolish the complex, the campaign provides a blueprint for collaborative action and public involvement in advocating for key aspects of 20th-century heritage.