Daniel Glaser has become the tenth winner of the Bryan Jefferson Prize for Excellence. For the past decade, Jefferson Sheard Architects have sponsored the prize awarded at the end of year exhibition at Sheffield School of Architecture each year.
Our Director, Mike Hall, presented Daniel with the 2026 prize for his Letham Field Headquarters scheme.
Letham Field Headquarters proposes a regenerative vernacular for Scottish peatland restoration. Set against the Scottish Government's recent dilution of peatland restoration targets, the project facilitates an ambitious expansion of NatureScot’s Peatland ACTION restoration programme by providing practical and technical restoration training for skilled contractors, as well as fossil fuel workers and young people facing an uncertain future due to the ongoing transition of the petrochemical industry in the Inner Forth.
By supporting skilled education and employment, the project supports peatland communities facing a disruptive transition from extraction to stewardship. The building demonstrates the potential of regenerative construction for rural peatland communities across Scotland, pioneering a modular, adaptable, and biodegradable construction system using site-sourced construction materials.
At a site level, the Field Headquarters supports the restoration of Letham Moss, a heavily damaged peat bog used for industrial peat extraction and coal bed methane fracking. The Field Headquarters is designed to touch the fragile peat bog ecosystem lightly, using natural materials harvested and cultivated on site in a regenerative, circular construction approach. This approach was tested during the project by constructing a 1:1 sample reed thatch wall.