Saif Sanoufe, recent Architecture BA Honours graduate from the University of Westminster, was awarded the Architects Company Transport Award 2025 for his final-year project, which reimagines an abandoned High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) site in Manchester as a new landmark combining energy production, data storage and public space. The project explores how cities might adapt as investment moves away from transport infrastructure and toward technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
Titled The Automonument 2040, the project responds to the cancellation of the UK government’s northern leg of HS2, the high-speed rail line that was originally planned to connect Birmingham with Manchester and Leeds but was scrapped in 2023 due to rising costs. Set in Manchester’s Piccadilly Plaza, a site that is historically linked to the Industrial Revolution and now positioned as the UK’s AI capital, the project imagines a self-sufficient tower that generates power which is then shared back to the city.
Saif’s project was supervised by Dr Paolo Zaide and Tom Budd and was inspired by architect Rem Koolhaas’s ideas about buildings being both symbolic and functional. It explores how architecture can balance practicality with a sense of meaning. The tower holds renewable energy systems, wind turbines, data servers and cooling infrastructure, while its public spaces invite visitors to experience how technology shapes everyday life.
Made from recycled materials, including HS2 components and electronic waste such as old devices, batteries and cables, the design highlights the need for more sustainable and adaptable infrastructure. Through detailed drafts of the model, Saif’s work encourages people to think about how future cities can reuse existing materials and make technology work for communities.
The Architects Company Transport Award recognises outstanding student projects that address key issues in transport and infrastructure. Saif’s project was celebrated for its originality, strong design thinking and its thoughtful response to how technology will shape the future of urban life in the UK.
The Automonument 2040
Speaking about the project, Saif said: “I am honoured to have received the Architects Company Transport Award for Automonument 2040. I am glad I had the chance to explore such themes and experiment with different design techniques and media. I am very thankful to my tutors as that freedom to test and express ideas in many forms is something truly unique to the University of Westminster.”
Dr Paolo Zaide added: “This year, we questioned the promise of HS2 and the notion of grand visionary projects, using time, speed and digital technologies to reimagine the urban landscape. Saif’s project is a provocation, visualising a field of vertical digital data towers across Manchester and exploring how these could shape urban spaces or influence behaviours of occupation, consumption, work and leisure. Through large-scale drawings, models and film-like simulations, the project constructs a speculative vision that positions itself between the plausible and the desirable.”
Saif’s project directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Learn more about Architecture, Interiors and Urban Design courses at the University of Westminster.
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