Wakefield Civic Society announced prestigious Design Awards at their Annual General Meeting held at Wakefield Town Hall on Thursday evening, 10th April.
Although the number of nominations received for Wakefield Civic Society’s Annual Design Awards was somewhat lower than in recent years, there were, nonetheless, some interesting projects showing the range and breadth of development taking place in and around the city.
In the new build category, two projects were recognised with awards. A private house at Station Lane, Walton, developed by Steven Mungofa to a design by Paul Ibberson of Cadvis3d Architectural Design, won one of two awards. The judging panel liked the way the new property made good use of a small corner plot but, as importantly, the way in which the building’s façade had been enlivened with a differentiating choice of materials.
The second Design Award in the new build category was awarded to City and Provincial Properties for their new Gradient Mill building at Tileyard North designed by Hawkins Brown Architects. This building replaces an older one that was beyond economic repair and forms part of the redevelopment of the Rutland Mills complex. Over five floors, it provides a modern interpretation of a traditional mill building in terms of layout, design and massing. It has been very neatly executed and provides ideal facilities over five floors for businesses, including hospitality venues, and creative industries adjacent to Wakefield’s burgeoning waterfront.
In the refurbishment category, there were two commendations and two awards.
The first of the commendations went to Wakefield Grammar School Foundation for their refurbishment of the Caleb Crowther Almshouses on George Street (pictured left). Part of the refurbishment work had been to replace the windows and frames. That it was hard to spot the work had been carried out when comparing before and after photographs showed that care had been taken in the detail: it would have been so easy to spoil the aesthetic appeal of the building by choosing inappropriate replacements.
The second commendation was presented to Rushbond for their refurbishment of the Camellia House in the grounds of Bretton Hall (see photo right). Originally built in 1817, the Camellia House had been sympathetically restored to bring it back to its former grandeur.
The awards in this category went to Yorkshire Dental Suite and Wakefield Exchange.
Yorkshire Dental Suite had taken over the former Alfred Moodies public house at 12 Westgate, Wakefield and converted it to a modern dental surgery. Again, the refurbishment had been done sympathetically giving the Westgate façade a lift while retaining the look of the original building. The design was by Benchmark Designs.
Wakefield Council received the award for the conversion of the former market hall into a new events space for the city centre, Wakefield Exchange. With design by Arcadis, the building had been adapted to include food and beverage stalls and a new mezzanine level with conference rooms. In addition, and to make the events space work for a variety of different events and activities, the roof had been screened and acoustic tiles introduced to create a space where both light and sound can be controlled.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Wakefield Civic Society president Kevin Trickett said “Each year, the Society invites nominations from members and the general public as well as from developers and property owners. While the overall number of nominations had dropped when compared to previous years, there were still enough nominations for the judges to have quite a lively debate!
“A number of shop fronts and cafés, bars and restaurants had also been put forward. While these were considered, and some of them did gain the judges’ appreciation and made a positive contribution to the street scene, it was felt that they did not quite meet the high standard of design that the judges hoped to see.”
The awards and commendations were handed over to the recipients by the Mayor of Wakefield, Councillor Darren Byford, on behalf of the Society. Speaking at the conclusion of the event, the Mayor congratulated the recipients and also praised the work of the Society which had just celebrated its 60th anniversary.