TWO North-East architecture students have won a coveted prize for after coming up with designs for a new visitor centre on Hadrians Wall.

Students studying on Northumbria University's architecture programme were asked to respond to an adapted version of the original design brief provided by Northumberland National Park for the 10.5m project on Hadrians Wall, to be known as The Sill.

An alternative brief asked them to look at designs for a building at nearby Ad Gefrin.

Student Simon Ward won The Sill site prize for his work based around the language of the Roman wall, whilst the alternative site prize went to Louisa Heyworth for her historically-informed architectural designs at Ad Gefrin.

The student's initial design concepts were shortlisted for the award by The Sill's learning and participation officer Georgia Villalobos alongside Ben Elliott, director of architecture at Northumbria University.

Alison Thornton-Sykes, principal designer at JDDK, the practice retained by Northumberland National Park to develop design concepts for The Sill, then selected the final two winning designs.

The actual Sill building is currently in the development phase, following public consultation on designs by JDDK which are now being prepared for submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund with the aim of securing funding for the build phase of the project.

Northumberland National Park is also trialling activities with schools and education establishments and seeking feedback from teachers on the types of activities they would like to see facilitated at the building.

The Sill will become a hub which will welcome new visitors and inspire current and future generations to explore the rest of the park.