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Best of York’s Architecture honoured at 2019 York Design Awards

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A treehouse dedicated to the memory of a little boy who died aged four has been awarded the first ever Young People’s Award at the York Design Awards 2019.

School children and young people aged under 18 chose their favourite building for the first time in the 2019 York Design Awards.  In a new category for 2019 Jake’s Treehouse at Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy was voted the Young People’s Choice.

Children from Clifton Green Primary School and their teacher John Hattam attended the awards evening to present the award to designers Playscheme and Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy who raised the funds to build the treehouse, clatter bridge and sensory gazebo in memory of Jake Smith who died in December 2016, aged 4. The Strensall community, Jake’s family and the school continue to fundraise for Dravet Syndrome UK and York Inspirational Kids.

Six other buildings were award winners at the annual presentation evening held this year at the Ron Cooke Hub at the University of York which was attended by more than 150 property professionals.

A newly built home at 23a The Green in Acomb was awarded Small Residential (under £500,000). The house has a super-insulated external construction aiming to meet the AECB Silver Standard, which equates to a 75% reduction in energy costs compared to a new house to current building regulations.

The Longhouse at Heslington took the Large Residential (over £500k) award and also the Lord Mayor’s Award. The new building is a mixture of new build and renovation of 2 two-storey brick barns. The site was an unused farmstead at the southern end of Heslington village within the Conservation Area and part is within the green belt boundary.

Another double award winner was The Bothy coffee shop at Deans Garden Centre, which was awarded the Commercial category and the Press People’s Choice award voted by local residents and readers of the York Press. The Pascal Building at St Peter’s School was awarded the Community award.

The hotly contested Conservation category was awarded to 35 Huntington Road, a Grade 2 townhouse built in 1824 which has been restored and re-modelled to accommodate modern family living requirements. Materials included locally made handmade brick, sustainable lead, locally sourced lime mortar and locally sourced re-claimed York stone terracing.

The category also featured two special mentions: one for York Civic Trust in recognition of sustained efforts across three historic statues and the Acomb War Memorial, and Garforth House in recognition of the family’s commitment to rescuing an important Grade I listed building situated in the centre of York.

Bartle Garth was awarded the Sustainability Award. The 1980s property had remained untouched since it was built. The owner wanted to renew the property by upgrading the energy efficiency of the building. New windows and doors and the triple glazed roof lights have vastly improved the thermal efficiency of the building. The SAP/EPC rating is now B,

up from the original E value.

Chair of the York Design Awards committee Rebecca Thompson said: “Congratulations to all our 2019 award winners. We were delighted with the quality of the entries once again this year, which presented our judging panel with a tough challenge deciding which projects should take the honours.

“I’d like to thank our sponsors, without whom the York Design Awards simply wouldn’t be able to run in the way that they do, the University of York for providing us with a superb venue to hold our presentation evening, and most importantly the people and organisations who entered.”

Celebrating its 13th anniversary this year, the York Design Awards launches every January with entries submitted between January and April. The awards are organised by a committee of volunteers and all funding is provided through sponsorship.

Sponsors include Hiscox, CG Building and Restoration, City of York Council, Crombie Wilkinson, Duncan Lomax Photography, Fulprint, Leeds Environmental Design Associates (LEDA), LNER, MLC, O’Neill Associates, Savills, Shepherd Group, The Grand Hotel, The Partners Group, The Press, United By Design, University of York, York Civic Trust, York Conservation Trust, York Explore, York Guild of Building, York St John University.

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