Shortlist for the National Eisteddfod, Wales Gold Medal for Architecture, Welsh Architecture Award, Building Contest

Shortlist for the National Eisteddfod

Welsh Architecture Award – Gold Medal News

10 Jul 2017

National Eisteddfod of Wales’ Gold Medal for Architecture 2017

4 + 3 Jul 2015

The National Eisteddfod Award

Wales Gold Medal for Architecture Shortlist

A primary school, a mountain bike visitor centre and a host of private dwellings including an ‘upside down’ house are among the buildings shortlisted for this year’s National Eisteddfod of Wales’ Gold Medal for Architecture, supported by the Design Commission for Wales.

The shortlist of eight building projects, located across Wales, was unveiled at a reception hosted by the Design Commission for Wales at Oriel Davies, Newtown on Friday 3 July.

The Gold Medal aims to draw attention to the importance of architecture in the nation’s culture and to honour architects achieving the highest design standards.

Supported by the Design Commission for Wales, and awarded in association with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, the Medal recognises architectural excellence in buildings completed between 1 January 2012 and 14 March 2015 and recommended to the Eisteddfod as being of the greatest merit.

The full shortlist includes:

Cliff House, Gower. A three-bedroom family home with uninterrupted views of the Bristol Channel. Designed by Wales based Hyde + Hyde Architects, with offices in Swansea and Cardiff.

photos from award organisers

Cefn Castell, Criccieth, north Wales. A new contemporary home in an outstanding cliff top location overlooking Cardigan Bay. Designed by Manchester-based Stephenson Studio.

photograph : Andrew Wall
Cefn Castell

Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre, Snowdonia. An extension to the Coed y Brenin visitor Centre, to enhance the experience of the 140,000 visitors it receives each year. Designed by Hereford-based Architype.

photos © Leigh Simpson photography

Upside down house, Vale of Glamorgan. An ‘upside down house’ with a rooftop garden affording outstanding views. Designed by Wales -based Loyn & Co Architects practicing in Penarth.

photos © Charles Hosea

The Nook, Monmouthshire. A new four-bedroomed family home set in a secluded valley. Designed by Hall + Bednarczyk of Chepstow, Wales

photos © Simon Maxwell

Private House, Cardiff. A new family home designed for 21st Century living. Designed by Loyn & Co Architects

photos © Ståle Eriksen

Great House Farm, St Fagans, Cardiff. A small development of nine dwellings and apartments build on the site of derelict farm buildings. Designed by Cardiff-based Gillard Associates Ltd.

photos from award organisers

Ysgol Craig y Deryn, Llanegryn, Gwynedd.
A primary school designed to accommodate 110 pupils designed to respond to the character of its landscape setting. Designed by B3 Architects with offices throughout the UK.
(no images, apologies)

A number of the shortlisted projects and their design teams have already won prestigious architecture awards this year. Eisteddfod Gold and Manser Medal Winners for Stormy Castle in 2014, Loyn & Co have also been recognised in RIBA 2015 Architecture in Wales Awards with Private House, along with Cefn Castell by Stephenson Studio and Cliff House by Hyde + Hyde Architects. Cliff House has also picked up a RIBA National Award 2015.

Carole-Anne Davies, chief executive of the Design Commission for Wales, said: “The Gold Medal for Architecture is the only design award directly supported by the Design Commission for Wales. Architecture is a vital element in the nation’s culture and it is important that architects achieving the highest design standards are fully recognised and celebrated.

“Working in close partnership with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, we seek to celebrate those projects that achieve architectural excellence and recognise exceptional designers and clients.

“It is interesting that this year’s shortlist comprises several private dwellings, and perhaps as a result of public funding constraints and the cycle of capital lottery awards, publicly funded and commercial buildings are not prominent. Aside from investment patterns and simply the timing of awards, this also reflects how individual clients are championing and investing in good quality design.

The shortlist was drawn up by selectors Elinor Gray-Williams, from Donald Insall Associates, and Pat Borer. After further deliberation over the coming month, just one of the shortlisted buildings may be awarded the Gold Medal for Architecture on 1 August 2015 at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, held in Meifod in Montgomeryshire.

Pat Borer said: “The shortlisted schemes are the best of this year’s entries, and all have significant architectural merits.

“When choosing an overall winner, we will be looking at how each project has responded to the brief to provide the required accommodation, complete with a robust and economic construction, an aesthetic sensibility responding to the site and a well-developed environmental responsibility. Also, importantly, we will also be looking for some celebration or sense of ‘Welshness’.”

The Gold Medal for Architecture may be awarded together with the Plaque of Merit, which is given to smaller projects of a value of up to £750,000, achieving high design quality.
All eight shortlisted projects for the Gold Medal will be included in the Architecture in Wales exhibition at the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1 – 8 August. Supported through the partnership between the Eisteddfod, Design Commission for Wales and the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, the exhibition aims to raise the profile of architecture in Wales and convey the valuable contribution that the built environment makes to Wales as a beautiful and distinctive place.

The National Eisteddfod of Wales’ Gold Medal for Architecture was established through the efforts of architect and town planner, Thomas Alwyn Lloyd (1881 – 1960). It was first offered in 1954 but never awarded during his lifetime. The first accolade was awarded in 1960 to Grenfell Baines & Hargreaves of Preston for the Warehouse and Offices of H J Heinz Ltd, Western Avenue, Cardiff. The Award, along with the Plaque of Merit, has been supported by the Design Commission for Wales since 2009.

Shortlist for the National Eisteddfod of Wales Gold Medal for Architecture images / information received 03072015

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image courtesy of architects
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