A house built on a coastal hillside in Swansea and a community centre in Cardiff have picked up awards in the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW).
The two buildings won the 2022 RSAW Welsh Architecture Award and will now be considered for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) National Award which will be announced in June.
The Grange Pavillion, which is located in Grange Gardens park in the suburb of Grangetown, was one RSAW winner designed by Cardiff-based Benham Architects with IBI Group. BECT construction were contracted to build the multi-use building, which replaces an underused and deteriorating Bowls Club.
The building features three large activity rooms with different functions including a timber-floored room to facilitate dance and exercise activities.
The judging panel were impressed with the community project in Grange Gardens which they said "exemplifies true collaboration" and brought meaningful change for the Grangetown community.
Before the architects could design the building, they spent four years investing in community engagement to test interest and need in the area. This led to the community partnering with Cardiff University to develop best practice methodology.
Cardiff company The Urbanists were also consulted on the landscape as well as CDF Planning and Development Trust Wales on business development.
The contract is valued at £1,396,476 with a cost of £2,252 per metre squared and a gross internal area at 620 metre squared.
The Pavillion has also been named this year's Client of the Year in the awards.
The second award-winning project was a private residence near Swansea on the coast.
The judges were bowled over by the spectacular location within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Penarth-based Loyn & Co Architects designed the home with Bradbar Construction contracted to build the house.
The project was a replacement house which is larger and relocated forward in the site to maximize the sea views.
The judges said there was a "good sense of arrival with a transition from the recessed stone clad lower entrance hall up to a light washed, double height atrium containing an internal garden planted with small trees and palms."
RSAW Jury Chair Sarah Featherstone said: "This year’s two winners are examples of design excellence in Wales. The jury were bowled over by the spectacular location of the house in Swansea, a steeply sloping site, high up on the coastline offering views of the coast, within the AONB. In a magnificent stand of pine trees, the property’s glazed atrium contains an internal garden planted with small trees and palms, creating the centrepiece of the house.
"In Cardiff, community project Grange Pavilion demonstrates exemplar collaboration, which has transformed the lives of its residents. The building replaces an underused and deteriorating Bowls Club with a new multi-use building which can adapt to the needs of its community.”
The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National award-winning projects later this year.
Running since 1966, the RIBA Awards are for buildings in the UK by RIBA Chartered Architects and RIBA international Fellows.
Entries are submitted to the region or nation in which the building is located. Projects are judged first for the RIBA Regional Awards, then the RIBA National Awards. Finally, the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist is selected from winners of the RIBA National Awards.
