First prize went to Jess Tyson of Nottingham University for her scheme to create a new Nottingham Arts Centre from a complex of buildings including the city's former Guildhall and Fire Station. A team from Birmingham City University took second prize with their proposal to refurbish and extend Moseley Road Baths, Birmingham, continuing its use for public swimming but adding a range of other community facilities. The judges commended Justin Chung of Manchester School of Architecture who re-imagined the former Dana Prison, Shrewsbury as a centre for artisan crafts.
Philip Webb Award
Philip Webb Award
First awarded in 1993, the Philip Webb Award sets architects in the early stages of their career a demanding but exciting dual conservation and design challenge.
The brief is to devise a scheme which sympathetically revitalises a historic building for reuse through careful repair of existing fabric and a significant element of new construction in a contemporary design. It’s a unique opportunity for those interested in sustainability, the reuse of old buildings and in developing experience in conservation practice to engage with the SPAB’s principles and showcase their skills. The competition is open to recent Part II graduates and current Part II students at UK Schools of Architecture.
Philip Webb Award 2020
This year's award attracted a wealth of thoughtful, imaginative, ambitious and beautifully presented entries. After considering all the submissions anonymously aganist the competition criteria, the judges shortlisted seven schemes to explore in more depth with their designers at an assessment day in November, which was held online, given the continued risk posed by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The shortlisted schemes were:
- Justin Chung (Manchester) - Islanded: a Reimagined Factory (Dana Prison, Shrewsbury)
- Jess Tyson (Nottingham) - Principles of Continuity: Nottingham Arts Centre (Guildhall & Fire Station)
- Emma Halford (Cardiff) - Navigation Colliery: Craft, Care & Conservation (Crumlin, South Wales)
- Megan Peeks (UWE, Bristol) - Koutoubia Hammam, Marrakech, Morocco
- Sarah Edwards (Sheffield) - Institute of Care: a test bed for conservation & repair (Longton, Stoke on Trent)
- Shelby Green (De Montford, Leicester) - Caelatura: Long Stairs, Nottingham
- Team entry (Birmingham City) - Moseley Street Baths, Balsall Heath, Birmingham by Rebecca Chim, Shannon Ciriaco, Frances Lacey, Annabel Linch, Huma Mahmood, Lechelle Ndlovu, James Timmins
Following a day of engaging presentations and fascinating discussion, the judges selected Jess Tyson's scheme for a new Nottingham Arts Centre as this year's winner. Second prize was awarded to the team that set out proposals for the refurbishment, upgrading and extension of Moseley Road Baths in Birmingham. Additionally, the judges commended Justin Chung for his reimagining of the former Dana Prison, Shrewsbury as a manufacturing hub for handcrafted ceramics, glass and textiles. See the acceptance speeches on the SPAB's YouTube.
Future awards
Due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the SPAB's 2020 awards, we are reviewing the timetable for the next round of awards. Information about entry periods and deadlines, and other updates, will be posted here in due course.
Please contact us: education@spab.org.uk
Past Winners
2020 winner
2019 winner
Joint first prize went to two schemes which reintroduce semi-industrial uses to former manufactories, seeing the possibilities presented by challenging sites in an advanced state of dereliction. Taking inspiration from pottery techniques, Olivia Hellman (Sheffield) inserted an urban dairy in a former calcining mill at...
2018 winner
The winning and commended architects in 2018 chose to develop schemes for buildings or complexes with an uncertain future or which are currently subject to unsympathetic planning proposals. This year’s first prize winner, Chris Hamill, tackled the contested site of disused Armagh Gaol. Second prize went to Rachael Moon for her imaginative proposal to transform the Pit Head Baths at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery in Stoke-on-Trent, into a public spa. Joe Copp was commended for his scheme to revive the Bristol United Brewery Malt House.
2017 winner
First prize went to Marta Ascenso of the Mackintosh School of Architecture (Glasgow School of Art) for her scheme to breathe new life into the abandoned Italian hill town of Craco in Basilicata. Alanah Honey, a graduate of Newcastle University, took second prize for her proposal to refurbish and extend redundant buildings in Zanzibar to house a new Institute of Design. The judges awarded third prize to Kate Nicholson of Sheffield University who re-imagined part of the former Spode Pottery in Stoke on Trent as a storytelling centre.
2016 winner
In 2016 the SPAB celebrated an architect closely associated with the Society – William Richard Lethaby. Educational charity UK Youth offered Lethaby’s country house, Avon Tyrrell, which it uses as an outdoor activity centre, as the live case study for this year’s competition. Joint first prize went to Bethan Watson of Cambridge University and Cristiano Lamarque of Oxford Brookes University for their carefully considered and well-presented schemes for the town of L'Aquila and the former monastery at Evora. Jordan Green and Rhys Waring were commended for their scheme for Avon Tyrrell.
