Notre Dame’s Walsh School of Architecture announced the laureates of the annual Henry Hope Reed and Richard H. Driehaus prizes. Phillipe Villeneuve will receive the Henry Hope Reed Award for undertaking the complete restoration of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral. The Driehaus Prize will be awarded to British architect John Simpson.
The Richard H. Driehaus Prize, established in 2003, is given to a “living architect whose work embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact,” according to the Driehaus Prize website. This criteria complements the Walsh School of Architecture’s curriculum, which aims to promote “cultural continuity, community, and harmony with nature through mindful design.” Past laureates include Leon Krier, Robert A.M. Stern, and Thomas H. Beeby.
John Simpson—this year’s winner—is best known as the architect of the DNRC Rehabilitation center in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, the King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, the Royal College of Music in London, and Notre Dame’s own Walsh Hall of Architecture, constructed in 2018.
The jury citation for Mr. Simpson’s selection reads, “John Simpson’s commitment to exploring the generative dimensions of tradition has led to a career of exploring architectural design across a broad range of expressions. While thoughtfully contextual with respect to local character and scale, his work also stands as a testament to the multiple building cultures that make up all traditions and offers solutions to the critical need for variety and uniqueness of place.”
Stefanos Polyzoides, Dean of the School of Architecture, commented on Simpson’s selection, “John Simpson has long maintained that traditional forms are environmentally sound and contribute to the sense of local identity.”
Polyzoides continued, “[Simpson’s] work amply illustrates that the practice of traditional urbanism and architecture does indeed facilitate the bonds of community by encouraging people of all kinds to share a common, living culture of building and to avail themselves of the opportunity to identify with, live, and flourish in its distinctive presence.”
Awarded in conjunction with the Driehaus Prize, the Henry Hope Reed Award is given to “an individual working outside the practice of architecture who has supported the cultivation of the traditional city, its architecture and art through writing, planning or promotion.” Some of the award’s most distinguished recipients include Ed Bass, Wendell Berry, and Vincent Scully.
As Chief Architect of Historic Monuments in France since 1997, Phillipe Villeneuve was responsible for the reconstruction of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral after the 2019 fire. Villeneuve’s work as the Architect of Historical Monuments has been largely restorative rather than strictly architectural, which qualified him for the Award.
Villeneuve also delivered a keynote address at the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s Fall Conference in October of 2025. The speech was entitled “Reconstruction/Restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris: Doctrinal, Technical, Aesthetic, and Liturgical Choices.”
Both the Driehaus Prize and the Henry Hope Reed Award will be presented in Chicago in March 2026. The Driehaus Prize winner is awarded with 200,000 dollars—the largest monetary architecture award—and the Henry Hope Reed Award winner with 50,000 dollars.
Benedict Althoff is a frosh architecture student living in Keenan Hall. For coveted Thursday night Revue tickets, email him at balthoff@nd.edu.