The 2025 ULI Hines Student Competition—Europe winners and members of the jury: Judith Everett (chair of U.K. Green Building Council); Mark Robinson, head of regeneration, NewRiver REIT; Krris Chandaria, university student, teamLHBK;, Brian Moran, senior managing director, Hines; Harry Anderson, university student, teamLHBK; Joanna Fisher, CEO, ECE Marketplaces; Balazs Kondor and Leo Walton, university students, both teamLHBK; Setareh Neshati, head of development, Westminster Council; Ron Bakker, founding partner and leader, PLP Labs; Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe; and Lars Huber, head of Europe, Hines.
ULI
TeamLHBK from the University of Cambridge in the UK has been named the winner of the sixth annual ULI Hines Student Competition—Europe.
The jury’s decision was announced by ULI and Hines, the global real estate investor, developer and manager, following a two-day in person final held at Hines’ European headquarters, “Grainhouse” in London.
Six diverse multidisciplinary teams representing various universities and business schools from across the region participated in the competition final. During the event, each group was challenged to combine their skills, industry knowledge and creative thinking to tackle a demanding and practical challenge before presenting their urban development proposals in response to a jury composed of real estate industry leaders from across Europe.
Acting as the development advisor to the local Council, this year’s real-world urban case study required the teams to address the challenges related to retail around London’s Bond Street station. The challenge focused on the redefinition of the retail and leisure experience alongside modern living and working spaces, emphasizing retail as an activator for the area, while also including a broad public realm strategy to interlink isolated spaces, enhance biodiversity and improve the environment for residents and visitors.
The comprehensive task was designed to thoroughly explore each team’s understanding of the key factors that impact decisions around responsible land-use and sustainable development, from real estate finance to investment, development, and social and environmental issues.
The finalist teams included Synergy360 (inter-collegiate team from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - Greece, INSEAD – France, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – U.S., and ESADE Business School – Spain / Vienna University of Economics and Business - Austria), Revivo Urbana (inter-collegiate team from UCL and LSE - U.K.), MUIS: Minds United In Synergy (inter-collegiate team from Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne EPFL - Switzerland, Technical University Berlin – Germany, Technological University Dublin - Ireland and EBS University - Germany), Chaire/MUI 2025 (ESSEC Business School - France), CzechoSlovak Syndicate (inter-collegiate team from Chalmers University of Technology - Sweden, Czech Technical University, and University of Economics in Prague – Czech Republic) and teamLHBK (University of Cambridge - UK).
The expert jury determined that teamLHBK, which included Harry Anderson, Krris Chandaria, Balazs Kondor, and Leo Walton, had presented the best response to this year’s complex task.
The team’s overall concept was “city touching the sky,” featuring elements such as the pedestrianization of the public realm including Stratford Place for retail and leisure uses, creation of connected green corridors, integrating a park into retail and office spaces, increases to external and internal natural light, a pedestrianized skywalk attraction and interconnected rooftops to increase green public space. The jury were impressed by the team’s sensibility concerning design and urban placemaking, including maximizing natural light, and their creative ideas around connectivity with a key focus on pedestrianization of the public realm.
This year’s competition jury was chaired by Brian Moran, senior managing director, Hines and includes Lars Huber, head of Europe, Hines; Lisette Van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe; Joanna Fisher, CEO, ECE Marketplaces; Mark Robinson, head of regeneration, NewRiver REIT; Setareh Neshati, director of regeneration and development—delivery and operations, Westminster Council; Ron Bakker, founding partner and leader of PLP Labs; and Judith Everett, chair of the U.K. Green Building Council and former executive director at The Crown Estate.
Lars Huber, head of Europe, Hines said: “Our industry’s future depends on bold, innovative thinking, and the Hines ULI Student Competition continues to provide a powerful platform for fostering innovation among the brightest young minds in real estate. Seeing this year’s teams tackle complex, real-world challenges with ingenuity and creativity has been truly rewarding. Congratulations to the winning team from the University of Cambridge for their exceptional achievement and to all the other high-caliber finalists for their remarkable efforts. The next generation of talent carries the responsibility and the opportunity to redefine the boundaries of our field and it is our privilege to support future leaders as they turn ambitious ideas into tangible change.”
Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, said: “Congratulations to teamLHBK for winning this year’s competition, and to all our hard-working participants in what has proven to be another highly challenging but equally rewarding experience. My thanks also go to our jury members and our mentors for their invaluable contributions to the success of this year’s competition, and to Hines for their continued collaboration on this important initiative.”
“It is interesting that two thirds of the teams participating in this year’s final were inter-collegiate in composition, clearly demonstrating the recognition that it requires a diverse set of disciplines to successfully solve any current urban development challenge. This is exactly what ULI is all about, bringing professionals together from all across the real estate value chain to learn and share knowledge, aiming to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide.”
“And for our industry’s future leaders, which this competition is focused on, as well as today’s leaders, the innovation and critical thinking that comes from true industry collaboration will be critical as we continue to navigate both the turbulence and transformation that our industry is experiencing.”
The winning team members each receive a fast-track application to the prestigious Hines internship program, an exclusive guided tour of a live development project, and a chance to participate in project meetings in Hines’ European Headquarters, complimentary access to tailored in-person opportunities within ULI program, and a complementary delegate pass to ULI Europe’s flagship Annual Conference in London (16-19 June 2025).
All finalists receive a one-year ULI membership, providing access to research, events, webinars, education, mentorship programmes, and connections with the global network, a discounted rate to attend the ULI Europe Conference, membership of the exclusive LinkedIn Student Competition Cohort group, and other benefits.
The in-person competition final was held over 3rd and 4th April 2025, with Grosvenor Property UK delivering a pre-event presentation and tour of their South Molton development on 3rd April.
