Tŷ Pawb wins top architecture award
Tŷ Pawb with architects Featherstone Young has received another top architecture award.
Tŷ Pawb is one of the three buildings in Wales to receive the RSAW Welsh Architecture Award 2021, part of the national Royal Society of British Architects (RIBA) Awards.
The win means Tŷ Pawb will now be eligible for the 2021 RIBA National Awards and the 2021 Stirling Prize, one of the most prestigious architectural awards in the UK.
The other two winners included a 19th century cottage known as House in North Wales and Maggie’s Cardiff, which is a cancer care centre.
ARTS, MARKETS, COMMUNITY EVENTS – GET NEWS FROM TŶ PAWB STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX.
An ‘imaginatively and courageously repurposed’ community and arts venue
The jury’s report on Tŷ Pawb states: “The previously named People’s Market has been imaginatively and courageously repurposed as a Lottery-funded community and arts venue while also retaining its former functions.”
The report goes on to say: “The strength of this project undoubtedly lies in what it seeks to achieve through reuse and repurposing of town centre building stock rather than the pursuit of an architectural statement.
“Tŷ Pawb takes a new look at the provision of facilities for the arts, seeking to make it accessible to all and inject relevance into the everyday lives of those who wouldn’t otherwise be attracted to a traditional gallery.”
‘A huge team effort with social value at its heart’
Sarah Featherstone, Director at Featherstone Young Architects said: “It means a great deal to us to have won an RSAW Award for Tŷ Pawb. This has been a transformative project for Wrexham. It was the result of a huge team effort with social value at its heart.
“Flexibility and experimentation were key drivers of the design and it has been immensely gratifying to see Tŷ Pawb flourishing in its full spectrum of uses. Alongside exhibition programme and the market. unplanned informal events take place – pop-up open mic, tea dances, pizza workshops, street dance to name but a few; the reciprocal benefits of sharing resources have been important to the success of Tŷ Pawb.”
One of Wrexham’s best-loved attractions
The award is one of several architectural honours Tŷ Pawb has received since opening in 2018.
Other awards received include the National Eisteddfod Gold Medal for Architecture 2019 and Architects Journal’s Retrofit of the Year 2019 and Best Cultural Building under 5m 2019
Cllr Hugh Jones, Wrexham Council’s Lead Member for Communities, Partnerships, Public Protection and Community Safety, said: “Thanks to incredible vision, creativity and ambition of Tŷ Pawb’s design team Wrexham now boasts a multi-award winning cultural facility which is widely recognised all over the UK as one of the finest examples of how a public building can be re-imagined into something new, innovative and exciting.”
“Since opening in 2018 Tŷ Pawb has grown to become one of our most treasured and best-loved local destinations. The atmosphere has been fantastic over the summer with live music and family activities returning, new local businesses joining the markets family and visitors returning to galleries, including the brand new Useful Art Space.
“This award is richly deserved. Huge congratulations to Featherstone Young and to the staff team for their success in bringing culture and community together under one roof.”