Dezeen has announced the Bentley Lighthouse Awards shortlist for this year’s Dezeen Awards, which includes EcoLogicStudio‘s Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, and Morrama‘s Jo Barnard.
The Bentley Lighthouse Award recognises those who have had an overwhelmingly beneficial impact on social and environmental sustainability, inclusivity or community empowerment.
The six individuals who are shortlisted for the prestigious award are behind projects such as an algae-powered air purifier that also produces material used to create furniture and accessories, and regenerative architectural surfaces applied in a cave-like store with ceiling oculi.
Other initiatives from shortlisted studios include a concept for an AI-tailored pill subscription service for the menopause and strategic plans for the sustainable future of peat meadows in the Netherlands.
All Dezeen Awards 2025 shortlists announced
Dezeen Awards 2025, in partnership with Bentley, revealed all shortlisted projects last week. The architecture, interiors, design and sustainability shortlists, as well as this year’s Designers of the Year, are available to view on the Dezeen Awards website.
“The Bentley Lighthouse Award continues to celebrate those redefining what it means to create positive change,” said Ben Saltmer, Dezeen Awards judge and head of lifestyle design at Bentley.
“This year’s shortlist shines a light on forward-thinking individuals and ideas that challenge convention and inspire a more responsible and imaginative future.”
All shortlisted Bentley Lighthouse Award designers are listed below, each with a link to a dedicated page on the Dezeen Awards website, where you can find an image and more information about their work.
Previous winners of the Bentley Lighthouse Award include Fernando Laposse and Bonnie Hvillum. This year’s winner will be revealed live at the Dezeen Awards party on 25 November at Exhibition White City in London.
Buy your Dezeen Awards party tickets now!
Tickets for the Dezeen Awards 2025 party are now on sale. The event will be a chance for everyone who entered this year’s Dezeen Awards to celebrate their achievements alongside fellow nominees, winners and our esteemed Dezeen Awards judges.
Tickets are selling fast. Click the link here to find out more and secure your tickets before they sell out!
Read on for the full Designers of the Year shortlist:
Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto
EcoLogic Studio
Pasquero and Poletto are co-founders of design practice EcoLogicStudio. Specialising in biodesign and urban ecology, the studio develops nature-based technologies that address pollution, energy use and climate resilience in cities
The practice recently opened a new hybrid studio and design lab in Turin, Italy, conceived as “an experiment in living in the fourth industrial revolution” that integrates experimental biodesign into everyday life.
Other recent projects include a collection of everyday objects using algae, including a desktop air purifier that outputs material used to create furniture and accessories, showcased at Milan Design Week.
Read more about Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto ›
Henriëtte Waal
Veenweide Atelier
Dutch designer Henriëtte Waal leads Veenweide Atelier, a long-term research project exploring sustainable futures for the peat meadows of Friesland, the Netherlands.
Working collaboratively with scientists, farmers and designers, Waal develops design-led strategies to restore the region’s ecosystem and support the people and wildlife that depend on it.
Waal is also the co-founder of Atelier Luma, a biodesign laboratory based in Arles, France, whose recent projects include Le Magasin Électrique, a showcase of the lab’s “bioregional approach” to design, which highlights locally sourced, organic methods of construction.
Read more about Henriëtte Waal ›
Jessie French
Other Matter
Melbourne-based designer Jessie French is the founder of Other Matter, a research and design studio exploring alternatives to petrochemical plastics.
French’s practice focuses on algae-derived polymers, exploring how these materials can replace fossil-based plastics with biodegradable, non-toxic alternatives for use across design and manufacturing.
Recent projects include Aesop’s first store in Hainan Island, China — also amongst shortlisted projects for Dezeen Awards 2025 — and the brand’s installations at Melbourne Design Week.
Read more about Jessie French ›
Jo Barnard
Morrama
Barnard is an industrial designer and founder of London-based design agency Morrama.
The studio’s recent projects include redesigned packaging for the toiletries brand Kankan, and a menopausal treatment concept that uses AI to customise pills to help alleviate users’ symptoms.
Barnard is also the co-founder of Design Declares, a not-for-profit initiative mobilising the design industry to take collective climate action. She is the author of The Sustainable Design Handbook and teaches as an associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art.
Nichole Rouillac
Level Design SF
San Francisco-based designer Nichole Rouillac is the founder and creative director of women-led industrial design studio Level.
Rouillac champions inclusivity and balance within the industrial design field, developing highly functional products that enhance wellbeing and quality of life.
Recent projects include the Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (LIFU) named OpenWater, which uses infrared and ultrasound to safely treat diseases and the Dandi IVF Care Kit, which aims to improve the fertility care experience.
Read more about Nichole Rouillac ›
Dezeen Awards 2025 in partnership with Bentley
Dezeen Awards is the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The eighth edition of the annual awards programme is in partnership with Bentley as part of a wider collaboration to inspire, support and champion design excellence and showcase innovation that creates a better and more sustainable world. This ambition complements Bentley’s architecture and design business initiatives, including the Bentley Home range of furnishings and real estate projects around the world.
→ Continue reading at Dezeen
