Category: News

Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has granted Blackpool Council with a £1.24m funding boost towards the development of a museum in the resort’s grade II*-listed Winter Gardens.

Austin-Smith:Lord was amongst the team that supported Blackpool Council with the HLF application by producing a fantastic feasibility study gaining the stage 1 funding.

Cllr Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council, said:

“I am absolutely delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has chosen to support this exciting project. We know that they had many applications to consider and I am over the moon that they saw the potential in our proposal.”

This project aims to create a brand new museum telling ‘The Blackpool Story’.

There will now be a development phase of 18 months at the end of which Blackpool Council will submit a second-round application to the HLF for the Delivery Phase of the project.

The Grade I Listed Llanelly House has been awarded the prestigious RICS Wales Project of the Year award and the RICS Wales Building Conservation Award at a ceremony that took place in Cardiff on Thursday 15^th May.

Along with Austin-Smith:Lord’s Liverpool Central Library, that also won both Project of the Year and Building Conservation at the RICS North West Awards that took place early this month, Llanelly House will be entered into the RICS National Awards which will be held  in London later in the year.

In 2010 Austin-Smith:Lord was commissioned by Carmarthenshire Heritage Regeneration Trust to carry out the conservation and restoration of Llanelly House in Llanelli which opened to the public in 2013. The challenging project has restored the building, which is a rare example of an early Georgian Town House, to its 18th Century glory and turned it into a major visitor attraction.

The concept of the project has been to create a National Centre for Genealogy where visitors can uncover their own ancestral connections via dedicated, specialist archived resources. Llanelly House also includes a cafe, shop and corporate and community spaces.

Ranked on Trip Advisor as one of the 10 top attractions in Carmarthen, Llanelly House has been a hit with both the locals and visitors throughout Wales and the UK.

Liverpool’s magnificent Central Library won two awards at the 2014 RICS Awards, held in Manchester on 8^th May.

The Austin-Smith:Lord Building was entered into four out of eight categories, winning awards for ‘Community Benefit’ and ‘Travel and Tourism’.

Out of a total of 56 entries, a panel of 17 judges selected and praised the Project of the Year; declaring the Central Library scheme more than satisfied the criteria of a building designed to serve the community.

Jane Lathwood, chair of the awards judging panel, said:

“It absolutely embodies the values that the judges look for in a development. It serves its users in a way that few other projects could, and since opening has proven itself at the heart of the community. The redevelopment of Liverpool Central Library is an object lesson to others on the right way to restore and refresh listed buildings, while making them fit for the future. The incredible reception it has been given by the people of Liverpool shows how valued it is. The redevelopment should see it remain a beacon of knowledge and learning for the next 150 years.”

The Library will now be entered into the National RICS Awards along with the winners of the Building Conservation, Design & Innovation and Regeneration categories which is to be held later on this year.

Austin-Smith:Lord has yet again been successful in having an outstanding project shortlisted in the Northwest RICS Awards (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).

The Phenomenal Liverpool Central Library has been shortlisted in four categories;- Building Conservation, Commercial, Community Benefit and Tourism and Leisure.

The winners are to be announced on 8^th May 2014 at the annual RICS Awards Ceremony, held in Manchester.

The recently completed Loudoun Square regeneration project in Cardiff has received the Development of the Year (Large Scheme) Award at the prestigious UK Housing Awards, which were held last night in London.

The awards, which were established in 1997, recognise excellence throughout the UK within the social housing sector.

Loudoun Square has been regenerated to create new modern facilities to serve the local community and in addition to affordable homes and apartments it also includes a new health centre, shops and community facilities.

Sustainability was of paramount importance for the project, with the new community centre and shops designed to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’. The health centre is also the first BREEAM Excellent Health Centre in Wales and was also awarded a Welsh BREEAM Health Care Award.

The 61 new affordable homes and apartments are designed to achieve Code for Sustainable Homes – Level 4 and Level 5. To achieve these stringent environmental targets, the designs incorporate innovative strategies such as harvesting of rain water, Bio Mass fuelled heating and extensive use of ‘A’ rated insulation materials.

Liverpool Echo recently announced FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) has been nominated fourth best movie theatre around the world.

The bold landmark designed by Austin-Smith:Lord is one of Liverpool’s first purpose-built arts centre’s for more than 60 years. Based on Wood Street in the Ropewalks area, the cinema and art hub has been a cornerstone within the city for showcasing film, art, exhibitions and special events since completion in 2003. It was named fourth best ‘movie theatre’ in the world in a new poll published by ‘Men’s Journal’ magazine.

The magazine added: “FACT is the kind of place that begs a moviegoer to linger.”

“There’s no genre or type of media that’s off-limits to its programmers – an experimental animated film in the morning might be followed up with a screening of a studio tent-pole in the evening.”

FACT celebrates its 11^th year anniversary later on this year.

Liverpool Central Library won two awards on 17 April 2014 at the Northwest Regional RIBA Awards.

The event was attended by Partner; Maggie Mullan, Senior Architect; Philip Morton, Architectural Assistant; Francesca Fernandes and Marketing Coordinator; Rhema Williams.

Completed in 2013, a world class, unique and prestigious library within the heart of Liverpool’s World Heritage Site. The design has provided a new cultural destination, a thrilling visitor experience and a Library and archive restored with historic asset for Liverpool’s most valuable collections.

Liverpool Central Library was among 12 buildings in the North West shortlisted for RIBA Regional 2014 Awards, from a total of 33 buildings entered in the region.

Liverpool Central Library won the Regional Award and the Award for Best Conservation Project.

Two of Austin-Smith:Lord’s projects have been shortlisted in the 2014 Scottish Design Awards.

Burns Wynd, our recently completed housing development in Maybole, Ayrshire, has been shortlisted in the Affordable Housing category. Jim Whiston, Director of client Ayrshire Housing said “We and all our tenants are delighted with this the latest project for us from A-S:L. Working within a tight budget, all the requirements of our brief have been met.”

Our regeneration of the Bridgegate area in Irvine has been shortlisted in the Public Realm/Landscaping category. James Ledgerwood of Irvine Bay, who was project manager for the Bridgegate project, said:

“This is without question one of the most exciting and dynamic town centre improvement projects in Scotland in recent years and the recognition of this by this short-listing at such prestigious awards is well deserved. This reflects the dedication by ASL, the overall delivery team and all partners to provide a design and construction that contributes to the future prosperity of Irvine.”

Winners will be announced at the awards dinner this June.

Austin-Smith:Lord’s redevelopment of Bridgegate in Irvine, Ayrshire, has been shortlisted in the 2014 RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence.

Over the last 18 months the heart of the former New Town has been completely transformed through a series of public realm and streetscape improvements, the restoration of an A-listed former church into a dynamic new commercial opportunity and the redevelopment of a main public office and retail property. The works were fully completed in November 2013 and provide a high quality public and commercial environment which will stimulate footfall and associated economic growth and new jobs to the town.

James Ledgerwood of Irvine Bay, who was project manager for the works, said:

“This is without question one of the most exciting and dynamic town centre improvement projects in recent years and its recognition at a UK level is well deserved. This reflects the dedication by ASL, the overall delivery team and all partners to provide a design and construction that contributes to the future prosperity of Irvine.”

We look forward to the announcement of the winning project in June.

Carmelite Monastery is among 12 buildings in the North West that have been shortlisted for RIBA Regional (Royal Institute of British Architects) Awards in 2014, from a total of 33 buildings entered in the region.

Andrew Ruffler, Regional Director of RIBA North West, welcomed the news:

“Once again the North West region has produced an incredibly strong and varied shortlist of buildings and practices. The regional jury had an extremely difficult task this year, particularly as the North West had the highest amount of projects of value £20m+ outside of London, so it is encouraging that regional practices and smaller schemes have also been recognised by the jury.”

All shortlisted buildings will be assessed by a regional jury with the winners of an RIBA Regional Award announced on the evening of Thursday 17 April from 7pm at ‘OH ME OH MY’ in Liverpool. Regional winners will also be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced at a London event in June.

The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later in the year.