It may be around 185 years old but it’s won the top title in Huddersfield Civic Society’s annual Design Awards.
Huddersfield Parish Church was voted by Examiner readers as the development which they felt has contributed most towards helping improve the quality and image of the town – and also won the overall award on the night.
And the result was revealed at the awards at Huddersfield Town Hall which means St Peter’s Parish Church was the overall winner out of five categories – Huddersfield Examiner Readers’ Award, best refurbishment, best shop front, best new development and best residential.
Society president Richard Ward said: “This is a difficult time for many of our towns and cities but the range and quality of the winning categories demonstrates that there is pride in helping make Huddersfield a better place and realisation that good design attracts business, improves spending and raises the profile of the town.”
Judged by Mr Ward and vice chairman David Wyles, the nominations were said to be ‘of a very high quality’, making it a difficult task to pick the overall winner.
The judges said of the church: “The extensive but sensitive restoration work that has been carried out has ensured that one of the town’s most significant structures is both enhanced and fit for its purpose as a historic place of worship and centre of community activity.”
Constructed in the 1830s, the church was designed by the eminent architect JP Pritchett who also designed the railway station, but for many years the deteriorating stonework had been cause for concern. The recent restoration work has been more extensive than ever previously carried out, including the replacement of missing stonework to the impressive tower, renewed pinnacles and mouldings, repair of the church’s nave and restoration of decorative ceiling mouldings, some of which were in a fragile and dangerous condition. Judges were particularly impressed by the intricate detailing of repair work, particularly evident in the carved heads on moulds. The work was overseen by local architect, Stuart Beaumont from One17 Design based at Armitage Bridge.
The Best New Development award went to St David’s Building at Huddersfield Grammar School. The judges considered this “a carefully articulated addition to the main school building, providing highly functional classrooms within a contemporary structure of coursed stonework, cedar cladding and roof slates which complements the imposing Gothic revival architecture of Royds Mount and its wooded setting.”
The building was designed by architect Craig Beech of HB Architects, of Rugby, and constructed by Milnsbridge firm Illingworth and Gregory. The new building on the Royds Mount site in Marsh includes the provision for senior school food technology, art, modern languages and English, as well as providing six new classrooms for the pre-prep children. The builders used local stone and cedar wood to enhance woodland nature of the school that now houses 445 pupils aged from three to 16.
The Best Refurbishment award went to Stirley Farm’s Cre8 barn, which is part of a complex being restored for community use by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and was recently featured on the BBC’s Countryfile programme.
The judges said this was one of the most difficult categories, adding: “There were a number of excellent shortlisted projects including the restored tram shelter on Edgerton Road and the residential conversion of the long-time vacant but architecturally significant former warehouse on the corner of Railway Street and St George’s Square.
“However, the judges felt the barn not only formed a significant element within a complex of buildings being gradually restored but it included very high standards of energy conservation by embracing the Passivhaus approach to low energy building, a feature that will add to the important educational work being carried out by the trust and feature as an exemplar project to building professionals in this country and abroad.”
The Passivhaus approach aims to create buildings that use around 90% less energy than standard UK buildings.
The pioneering low energy refurbishment – including a super-insulated timber frame structure built inside the existing stone barn building – was undertaken by Bolster Moor-based Passivhaus experts Green Building Store and has transformed a derelict cow barn into an eco-friendly educational centre.
Stirley Community Farm was taken on by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in 2011 and aims to demonstrate that farming and wildlife can exist hand-in-hand, showcasing how farming can complement and aid the development of a wildlife-rich landscape on a grand scale.
The Best Residential award went to The Castings, Kings Bridge Road near Huddersfield town centre which is a complex for 633 students, developed by North Wales developers Watkin Jones. Built on the site of the former Roberts Castings foundry, the judges felt this was “a strong, no-nonsense development that reflects the former industrial nature of the riverside area, complementing both successfully converted older properties and a number of exciting new developments while providing well located student accommodation within an attractively landscaped campus.”
The Best Shop Front award was shared by two retailers, Wood menswear and La Fleur flower and bridal shop, who took over part of the former Strawberry Fayre premises on Westgate. Adaptations to the retail units had to reflect the quality and high standards of design already established by the Kirklees Council owned Byram Arcade and the winners undertook research into how the units had looked in the late 19th century in order to satisfy strict listed building requirements.
The judges said: “Shop fronts indicate more than anything that, when the effort is made, high quality is achieved that significantly improves the visual quality of the town and helps attract spending and visitors. As with last year’s shop front winner, Dodds in Market Walk, some retailers are willing to go through major hurdles to get it right while others are ignoring planning regulations but are not being prosecuted by the council. We should praise the efforts made by these winning schemes and hope Kirklees will address the issues created by those whose actions are despoiling the image of the town centre.”
Alisa Devlin from La Fleur said: “I found photos dating back to the 1880s and tried to recreate that shop front in conjunction with listed buildings from Kirklees planning department who were brilliant and very supportive.”
Taran Rayt from Wood added: “We were very keen to keep the heritage feel to it.”
