Entries for the 2024 York Design awards are now open!

 The Awards are free to enter due to the support of our kind sponsors.  The awards celebrate a wide range of properties including single and multiple dwelling residential developments, community and commercial buildings, and open space/public realm/landscape.

To learn more about how to enter or to submit your application, please click here

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2024 Winners

Previous Winners Archive 2011

41, Windmill Rise

2011 New Build - Residential Award

A bold project that provides contrast and variety while fitting in to an otherwise quite uniform area. A large volume of living space under a steep roof is approached by a bridge over a sunken garden. Unusually, the bedrooms are on a lower floor but privacy is managed by a skilful use of the falling levels on the site. The design makes careful use of modern materials and large areas of glass to create an unusual but striking house.

Architect: Nick Midgley Design
Developer: Mr Michael Hammill, Yorbuild
Presented by: The Sheriff of York, Mr. Alan Deller, RIBA

Beech House, 141A Longridge Lane, Upper Poppleton

2011 New Build - Residential Award

An unexpected and exceptional series of additions to a standard house. A bow-fronted garden room, a glass storm porch and modifications to the front facade house have provided high-quality space and added a new dimension to a simple modern house. The garden room in particular is a complex architectural statement, incorporating a faceted glass curve, a living roof and glazed brick walls.

Architect: Mass Architecture
Developer: Owner
Presented by: Mr. Dave Kirkham, Beyond Colour & Printing.Com

33 & 34 St. Mary's

2011 New Build - Residential Award

A pair of houses designed in a mid-nineteenth century manner with scholarship and attention to detail. The two houses sit in an historic street which was developed in a uniform style. This pair of semi-detached houses shows how historic character can be repeated with new development when there is a depth of knowledge of the architectural type and a commitment to correct detailing and appropriate materials.

Architect: Francis Johnson & Partners, Bridlington
Developer: Owners along with Westwood Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd.
Presented by: Mr. Dave Wilson, The Master, York Guild of Building

Temple Avenue

2011 New Build - Residential Award

Two exemplary houses of a simple but sophisticated contemporary design that combine architectural refinement with an excellent use of internal space. The designs are underpinned by energy-saving objectives and are based on simple rectangular plans, steep-pitched roofs and brick walls. The architect has shown how it is possible for good design to lift everyday elements into works of architectural quality.

Architect: Richard Partington Architects, London
Developer: Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
Presented by: Mr. Terry Suthers MBE, Chairman, York Archaeological Trust

Bootham Junior School Nursery

2011 New Build - Non-Residential: Community/Public Award

An extension to a recently-built junior school with an energy-neutral design that combines simplicity, functionality and architectural modesty. The architect has responded responsibly to a brief that required high standards of energy efficiency and an unobtrusive extension to an existing building. The school has been transformed and should stand as a model of how architecture can add value without the need for extravagant gestures.

Architect: Potts Parry Ives & Young
Developer: Bootham School
Presented by: The Lady Mayoress, Mrs. Jane Horton

Ron Cooke Hub

2011 New Build - Non-Residential: Community/Public Award

A dramatic architectural statement and sophisticated use of space of the highest standard. Acting as a visual and functional focus of the University of York’s new campus at Heslington East, the new building makes a striking impression on the emerging campus. The articulation of the different functions provides a series of carefully considered views in the emerging masterplan. The hub encloses a large but welcoming communal central space and accommodates a wide range of academic facilities around the perimeter. This complex but coherent design is of standard that reflects the national significance of the university.

Architect: BDP, London
Developer: University of York
Presented by: Mr. Martyn Harrison, S. Harrison Developments Ltd.

The Yorkshire Museum

2011 New Build - Conservation/Reuse Award

A restoration of the architectural integrity of a major early-nineteenth-century building has created an ideal environment for a display of major exhibits with clarity and imagination. With a remarkably small budget and the dedication of the staff, the museum has brought together two achievements, each of which would have been exemplary on their own. One of Britain’s most important neo-classical interiors has been restored and its historic fittings revealed and this has been used as an inspiration and backdrop for an interactive and informative display of an internationally significant collection.

Architect: Gelder Harvey Architects, Harrogate
Developer: York Museums Trust
Presented by: Professor Sir Ron Cooke, Chairman, York Civic Trust

Ashfield House

2011 New Build - Conservation/Reuse Award

An important but derelict and neglected house has been restored and converted with scholarship and dedication. A large early-nineteenth-century house threatened with demolition and in an advanced state of decay has been turned into four houses with many original features restored and with new work carried out in the manner of the original. The commitment of the developer to the authenticity of the building has created a high standard of finish, modern accommodation and maintained the historic character of the original.

Architect: Ferguson Sayell, Harrogate
Developer: Hestia (York) Ltd
Presented by: Mr. Bill Woolley, Director City Strategy, City of York Council

South Quire buttress, turret, and spirelet, on East Front of York Minster

John Shannon Conservation Award & The Lord Mayor's Award for 2011

This combination of craftsmanship, conservation skills and creativity is of a standard that befits an historic building of international significance. The restoration of the heavily decayed fabric of the South Quire buttress goes beyond the accurate replacement of medieval fabric. Expert reconsideration of constructional problems and a constant reassessment of the necessary work are creative activities in their own right. To this is added a freedom of carving for individual masons that has created original, fascinating but entirely appropriate figurative decoration. Underlying this work is a sense of continuity with past and future masons that keeps alive a centuries-old working tradition.

Master Mason: Mr. John David
Superintendent of Works: Mrs. Rebecca Thompson
Presented by: The Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor of York, Cllr. David Horton.

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