Enfilade

The annual Georgian Group Architectural Awards were held on 31 October 2011. As noted at the Georgian Group’s website (for an overview of last year’s awards, see Enfilade’s previous post) . . .

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Our Architectural Awards, sponsored by international estate agents Savills, recognise exemplary conservation and restoration projects in the United Kingdom and reward those who have shown the vision and commitment to restore Georgian buildings and landscapes. Awards are also given for high-quality new buildings in Georgian contexts and new architecture in the Classical tradition.

The 2011 Awards were presented by Viscount Linley on 31 October 2011. The judges were the architectural historians Dr John Martin Robinson (Chairman), Professor David Watkin and Emeritus Professor John Wilton-Ely; the architecture critic Jonathan Glancey; Lady Nutting (Chairman of the Georgian Group); Charles Cator (Deputy Chairman of Christie’s International); and Crispin Holborow (Director of Country Property at Savills).

2011 WINNING AND COMMENDED SCHEMES

A record eighty entries were received, of which nineteen were shortlisted and eight were selected as award winners. The remaining shortlisted schemes were commended.

Restoration of a Georgian Country House

Easton Neston, Towcester, Northants

JOINT WINNER Easton Neston, Towcester, Northants (Ptolemy Dean Architects for Leon Max) 1702 by Hawksmoor for Fermor-Heskeths, who sold up in 2005. External repairs; restoration where possible of Hawksmoor’s original plan form; removal of tanking and cement render in basement; rebuilding of roof of fire-damaged Wren wing and reinstatement of lost dormers; relandscaping of north courtyard.

JOINT WINNER Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (Inskip & Jenkins for The Strawberry Hill Trust) 1750s for Horace Walpole. Building at Risk by 1993. Restoration of fabric, reinstatement of Walpole plan form and decorative scheme. Recreation of selected furnishings, including bespoke damask. External colour scheme reinstated.

COMMENDED Wilton House, near Salisbury, Wiltshire (Coade Ltd, David Mlinaric et al for the Earl of Pembroke) Restoration of cloisters, conservation of stonework and re-display of sculpture collection.

Restoration of a Georgian Building in an Urban Setting

88 Dean Street, Soho

JOINT WINNER Cockermouth Shopfront Heritage Scheme, Cumberland (By and for Allerdale Borough Council) Sensitive local authority-led restoration of shopfronts in Main Street and Market Place following the severe flooding of November 2009. Concerted effort to emerge from the adversity of flooding with a visually enhanced historic centre. Fifteen shopfronts restored to traditional designs by July 2011.

JOINT WINNER 88 Dean Street, Soho (David Bieda et al for Romil Patel) Meticulous restoration of 1791 shopfront, in particular the overpainted and dilapidated gesso fascia board and the damaged fanlight, backed by extensive research, including paint research.

COMMENDED Creative Ropewalks scheme, Liverpool Coordinated grant and enforcement action by Liverpool City Council to rescue and restore disused and derelict Georgian properties in the Ropewalks. Several properties in Seel Street, a notoriously derelict Georgian street with numerous buildings at risk, have been externally restored.

WINNER Greenlaw Town Hall, Berwickshire (Adam Dudley Architects for the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust) 1831 by John Cunningham as Berwickshire Courthouse. Redundant and a building at risk since 2001, now restored and reused as office space for local businesses and a community hall.

Restoration of a Georgian Church

St George’s Hanover Sq, London

WINNER St George’s Hanover Sq, London (Molyneux Kerr Architects for the Rector and PCC of St George’s Church) 1720s by John James. Roof and plasterwork repairs, servicing and lighting renewal, restoration of reredos, cleaning of woodwork, reinstatement of original decorative scheme, restoration of clock faces, restoration of gallery pews with reinstatement where lost.

COMMENDED St Peter and St Paul, Wolverhampton (Rodney Melville & Partners for Roman Catholic Church)1729, oldest surviving post-Reformation public urban chapel for Catholics; disguised as townhouse. Extended and altered 1826 by Joseph Ireland as memorial to Bishop Milner. Blighted by 1960s ring road and at risk of demolition; derelict by late 1980s. Restoration since then, now completed with reorganisation of interior; new altar, confessional and crucifix, the last by Rory Young.

Restoration of a Georgian Garden and Landscape

Boughton House, near Kettering, Northants

WINNER Boughton House, near Kettering, Northants (The Landscape Agency and Kim Wilkie Associates for Buccleuch Estates) Restoration of the main structure of the canal system, key water and earthworks features and the grand avenues (over a mile of lime avenues using home grown stock has been planted); repair of garden railings and gates; creation of a new formal landscape element, Orpheus by Kim Wilkie.

COMMENDED Hagley Hall, Hagley, Worcestershire (Reading Designs for Viscount Cobham) 1756-60 by Sanderson Miller for Lord Lyttleton. Restoration of 1764 obelisk in park.

COMMENDED Stourhead, Wiltshire (Temple of Apollo) (Caroe & Partners for The National Trust) 1765 by Flitcroft. Reroofing (replacement of 1950s roof, with original shallower dome profile reinstated) and interior redecoration (recreation of lost ‘gilt representation of the solar rays’ described in contemporary correspondence and partly based on a surviving Flitcroft design at Woburn).

Special Award

Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire (By and for Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust) 1750s by Adam Brothers for Earl of Dumfries. Restoration and conservation of interiors and contents (saved from dispersal in 2007). Recreation of original paint scheme and Adam decorative scheme, recreation of furnishings using archival records.

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The photos are drawn from The Georgian Group Blog, which also provides additional information about the individual awards, as well as the categories of New Building in the Classical Tradition and the Giles Worsley Award for a New Building in a Georgian Context.