Summer Party & Architectural Awards Evening

We were pleased to see so many people at the WSCA Summer Party and Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2019 Awards Presentation on Thursday 15th August 2019 at No. 35 Wine Bar, Worcester.

This year saw 30 entries submitted to the Worcestershire Architecture Awards and all entries were exhibited, digitally, before the awards presentations.  Details of the winners and all of the entries can be found on our awards page.

The evening was kindly sponsored by Solus Ceramics.

WSCA Meeting – 6.30pm 12 March 2019 – Community Room, Waitrose, Worcester

Our next meeting will be Tuesday 12th March at 6.30pm in the Community Room at Waitrose, Worcester.

There is free parking available in the main store car park. The room is in the far corner of the store. Refreshments will be available.

Please sign in at the customer service desk on your way into the store.

The meeting will be an opportunity to plan the launch of the Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2019.

All welcome – if you have any questions in advance please email chair@ribaworcestershire.co.uk.

NOTE: Due to the new GDPR regulations last year, it is now more difficult for us to contact people. If you would like to receive updates from us, please sign up to our emails. As with all these things you can unsubscribe again any time.

Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2018 Exhibition

An exhibition of winners from this year’s Worcestershire Architecture Awards will be displayed at St Helen’s Church, Worcester from 21st September to 12th October.

The exhibition will be open to the public every Friday during St Helen’s ‘pop-up cafe’, 10am-2pm and at other times the building is open.

St Helen’s is located on the corner of Fish Street and High Street in the centre of Worcester – https://sthelensworcester.org.uk

Stanbrook Abbey Talk and WAA 2018 Launch

Stanbrook Abbey talk

Our event held at Stanbrook Abbey on Wednesday 30th May 2018 was well attended by architecture professionals from across the county keen to hear Phil Howl from Howl Associates talk about this Worcestershire Architecture Award winning project.  The Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2017 exhibition was also displayed for people to peruse before and afterwards.

Phil gave an insightful presentation, giving context to the Stanbrook Abbey project by explaining the historical evolution of the abbey, before it was purchased by Clarenco to be developed for weddings, functions, conferences and other events. He explained how the existing buildings, including cloisters, chapels and cells, were sensitively restored and carefully altered where necessary. The team worked closely with both English Heritage (as was) and the Local Authority Conservation Officer, as many details such as fire and acoustic upgrades to the building fabric had to be cheerfully considered. Quirks from the different eras of development were retained, and the one major change was the new main entrance. Early on Phil knew that this could never compete with the existing gothic architecture, and explained how his approach one was of ‘new classicism’. There were challenges in linking with the existing building, where the gable had existing openings and circulation at each level, none of which lined through. The new build needed to address this, and introduce additional circulation that linked the two phases, without dominating the existing historic building. The sequence of design development models Phil showed us followed an interesting journey, and everyone agreed the final solution is very successful, as demonstrated by the fact this is an award-winning scheme!

Following the talk Phil was kind enough to give us a guided tour of of the abbey, drawing our attention to various details and showing us all the ‘secret’ passages connecting spaces! The cloisters are beautiful in their simple rhythm and symmetry and the conversion of cells to ensuite bedrooms is very successful. The extended function room is definitely a highlight, with original carved ‘mouseman’ features in tact, plus the new and magnificent views that have been opened up across the landscape

To view Howl Associates WAA2017 Stanbrook Abbey entry visit our Worcestershire Society of Chartered Architects website (http://www.ribaworcestershire.co.uk/WAAAwards2017/cat3_05.pdf)

Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2018 launch

Following the talk, the ‘call for entries’ to the Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2018 was announced. The Worcestershire Architecture Awards recognise inspiring new architecture in the county and the work of Worcestershire architects. Last year’s Awards successfully engaged the wider community, promoting local architects with a public exhibition of entries at the Guildhall, Worcester, followed by a presentation of awards. The entries were subsequently exhibited in the county at the Sawyard Gallery. The awards received publicity in the local press through collaboration with the Worcester News who organised online voting for the People’s Choice Award. Last year’s winners together with the other entries can be viewed on our website.

This years entries are now open, closing at the end of June. More information can be found on our website. The entries will be exhibited at the Guildhall, Worcester, from 10am to 4:30pm, Saturday 25th August 2018, during the final weekend of the Worcester Festival. Admission is free. Awards will be presented at a short ceremony at 2pm on the day. Local press will once again cover the awards, and we already have further showings booked for the exhibition at other venues in the county, which is great for promoting practices and what architects can do!

So, if you know of an outstanding Worcestershire-related project, whether you’re a member of the public, a councillor, Client or other Consultant, get in touch with the architect and encourage them to enter this year! There are 6 categories catering for both built and unbuilt schemes ensuring every type of scheme, irrespective of size or cost, can be recognised. Good luck!

Wednesday 30th May – Stanbrook Abbey talk and WAA2018 launch

Join us at Stanbrook Abbey (Jennet Tree Lane, Callow End, Worcester, WR2 4TY) on Wednesday 30th May 2018 for an inspiring talk by Phil Howl about this Worcestershire Architecture Award winning project.

Arrival from 6pm; talk commences 6.30pm, finish 8pm.

Phil will tell us about the conservation and restoration work Howl Associates (http://www.howl.co.uk/projects/stanbrook-abbey) have completed, along with a new extension, all part of a project to convert the abbey into the hotel, wedding venue and conference facility that it is now. There will also be a short guided tour of key spaces.

Howl Associates WAA2017 Stanbrook Abbey entry is available to view at http://www.ribaworcestershire.co.uk/WAAAwards2017/cat3_05.pdf

Following the talk, exciting information about the Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2018 will be announced.

Refreshments will be provided, and some of the Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2017 entries will be displayed for you to peruse at your leisure.

Due to the WSCA being awarded RIBA LIF funding this year there is no charge for the event, but if you could let us know if you plan to come along it would be appreciated so we can confirm numbers with the venue for refreshments – email us at mail@ribaworcestershire.co.uk.

For more information on the Worcestershire Architecture Awards – click here.

 

Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2017 exhibition

Location: Saw Yard Gallery, Bewdley Museum
15 Load StreetBewdley DY12 2AE 

March 3, 2018  to April 29, 2018 – Check museum website for opening hours – http://www.bewdleymuseum.co.uk

2017 saw the launch of the Worcestershire Architecture Awards by the Worcestershire Society of Chartered Architects. The awards were set up to recognise good architecture across Worcestershire, engage with the public, and promote the value that using an architect can bring to the local environment. A jury consisting of architects and non-architects judged the submissions, and a ‘People’s Choice Award’ was organised by Newsquest Midlands, publishers of the Worcester News and local papers across the county.

The exhibition showcases entries that were received and awards that were given, and celebrates the very diverse mix of architectural practices we have based in Worcestershire as well as working in the county. Practices range from sole practitioners to offices of multi-national, multi-disciplinary teams, all helping Client with projects ranging from extensions and refurbishments for private residential buildings, through to larger mixed-use, public projects. All around us architects are helping to create new buildings and spaces that impact on the lives of both the people who use them and those who pass by.

The awards categories were selected to open up entries to as many practices in the county as possible, raise awareness of as many projects as possible, with the ‘built’ and ‘unbuilt’ categories allowing either unrealised or student projects to be considered.

If you require any further information, please get in touch via one of the following:

website: www.ribaworcestershire.co.uk

email: mail@ribaworcestershire.co.uk

twitter: @RIBAworcester

The Worcestershire Architecture Awards 2018 will be launched in May 2018. If you know of any projects or practices locally that you think are worthy of recognition, encourage the to find out more and enter!

Worcestershire Architecture Awards

The Worcestershire Architecture Awards will be launched this year! We are in the process of finalising the details so keep an eye on our website and twitter feed, as well as email updates, for more information. If you are a local artist, or know one, and would be interested in making some bespoke awards for this first landmark year, please get in touch (mail@ribaworcestershire.co.uk)! It could be sculpted from clay, or honed from timber – we are open to ideas!

April Meeting – Finalising Design Awards

Our next get together will be on Tuesday 4th April at 7.30pm at Bolero Bar & Kitchen. At that meeting we are going to review the ‘briefing’ document for the competition, and we are looking to send a draft out in advance for comment – if you would like to attend please email mail@ribaworcestershire.co.uk.

It’d also be good to make some progress on our ‘logo’ so we can put this on the brief. Please could you bring any ideas you have along, then we can review these and hopefully choose one.

We have made contact with the Guildhall as a potential exhibition venue and will report on this. We will also decide who we are going to invite to do judging.

We can also have a general discussion if there is anything else anyone wants to raise. There are a couple of visits in the pipeline that the Chair will table.

March Meeting – Planning the Worcestershire Architecture Awards

RIBA Worcestershire Society of Chartered Architects are meeting again on Tuesday 7th March at 7.30pm at Bolero Bar & Kitchen on Foregate Street in Worcester.

The main focus of the WSCA this year is to run a local awards programme.

The Manchester Society of Architects already runs a successful awards scheme (http://www.the-msa.co.uk/ma-awards/).

The Worcestershire Awards will help us to raise the profile of architects and architecture locally. We’re really excited about this initiative and this next meeting is to pull together the categories, eligibility criteria and programme etc.  Come along with some thoughts to help us get this off the ground this year.

If you can’t come along to the meeting, watch out for the awards scheme going live this spring!

Don’t forget, if you know someone who is interested in becoming a member of the RIBA at any level and hasn’t yet got around to it, if you ‘refer’ them for membership (https://www.architecture.com/RIBA/JoinTheRIBA/Membership.aspx) and they join, you will receive a £25 bookshop voucher! The more people we get involved, the better.

 

You can follow us on twitter @RIBAWorcester, and we have space on Architecture WM too:

http://birminghamarchitecture.ning.com/events/riba-worcestershire-meeting