Tŷ Pawb wins Gold Medal for Architecture – council praised for ‘visionary architectural thinking’

The team behind the design of Tŷ Pawb have won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales held at Llanrwst, with London based architects Featherstone Young announced as the winners at the recent awards ceremony.

Supported by the Design Commission for Wales, and awarded in association with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, the Gold Medal for Architecture ‘recognises the importance of architecture in the nation’s culture and honours architects achieving the highest design standards’. It is awarded to buildings completed between 1 January 2016 and 1 March 2019.

Selector Trevor Skempton said: “In both the number of submissions – twenty-seven – and overall quality, this is an impressive year. Several schemes combined active support for the Welsh language with a coherent architectural culture and special sense of place. Meanwhile, in our towns and high streets, ‘urban design’ – ‘place-making’, sustainability, masterplanning, active street frontages, flexible mixed-uses, and the potential for recycling and retro-fitting older buildings has moved up the agenda.

Speaking of the Wrexham win Mr Skempton added, “The future of our town centres and high streets is a pressing concern for architects, and Tŷ Pawb by Featherstone Young tackled this urban problem in an immediate and imaginative way, by recycling and retrofitting a town centre structure from the 1980s.

“There was evidently visionary architectural thinking in Wrexham County Borough Council’s commissioning process, in which the possibility of using space in this way was first identified.

“Realisation of what has been called ‘baggy space’, the introduction of warmer materials, the ‘choreography’ of the new services, clear respect for the qualities of the existing structure, and the exciting coordination of graphics and furniture design, have led towards an integrated architecture of genuine quality, with exciting potential for further growth and development.”

Mary Wrenn, Director of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, said: “Wales can be truly proud of this remarkable shortlist. Once again, architects in Wales have put sustainability at the top of the agenda and delivered demonstrable value for money for their clients.”

Tŷ Pawb won the Gold Medal against competition from seven shortlisted building projects including Maggie’s Centre in Cardiff by Dow Jones; Canolfan S4C Yr Egin media hub by BDP with the Rural Office for Architecture and Y Gweithdy, National Museum of History, St Fagans by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

The award was accepted at the ceremony by Tŷ Pawb’s Creative Director, Jo Marsh, and Wrexham Council’s Lead Member for People – Communities, Partnerships Public Protection and Community Safety, Cllr Hugh Jones (pictured above).

Sarah Featherstone of Featherstone Young said: “We are so pleased to see Tŷ Pawb win the Gold Medal for Architecture this was a huge team effort with social value at its heart.

“Our baggy space concept applied to the physical spaces has extended to the exhibition programming and invites the wider community to use the building in a range of different ways and have a platform to raise important local and cultural issues. This builds on our approach to other projects we have completed in Wales including Ty Hedfan, an exemplar for modern vernacular housing and recently completed Found Gallery in Brecon.”

Cllr Hugh Jones, said: “We are delighted and honoured to accept this award with our architects, Featherstone Young.

“Our vision for Tŷ Pawb was to create a unique community resource, celebrating arts and culture alongside Wrexham’s rich market town heritage. The bold, bright and dynamic design of the building has played a key role in Tŷ Pawb’s success and has helped us transform an old market hall and car park into the vibrant new facility we have today.

“It is wonderful to see this hard work recognised at the National Eisteddfod and I am immensely proud to see a building in Wrexham receive this award. Huge congratulations to all those involved in this fantastic achievement.”

Tŷ Pawb’s Creative Director, Jo Marsh, said: “Tŷ Pawb’s versatile spaces and the high quality of the design work has helped us to expand our cultural offer to include all sorts of activities from art exhibitions and music festivals to family activities and corporate events. It’s also home to a wide range of independent businesses and food and drink retailers.

“To incorporate all this successfully under one roof required huge creativity. It has been so rewarding to see this hard work pay off and to see the building grow and flourish since opening in April 2018.”

Wrexham Council Chief Executive Ian Bancroft also welcomed the award, asking Wrexham to be ‘brave’ in the future, “So proud of the brave decisions Wrexham made to create Ty Pawb, this recognition is so well deserved, and all of us in Wrexham need to be brave in the future to create a Wrexham that we can all be proud of!”

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 is made in association with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales and has been supported by the Design Commission for Wales since 2009.

Back in November Wrexham Civic Society declined to make a positive award to the centre, although in the scathing write up the door was left open for something more positive later this year, “Even the black painted brickwork of the exterior seems to have been designed to make the building as forbidding as possible to enter. Of course, if the centre does indeed turn out to be the regeneration exemplar intended then we will shortlist it for future awards.”

Forgotten the journey the building itself has been on? Here is a selection of videos Wrexham.com created, starting with a refresher of what the Peoples Market looked like on the day it closed, right through transformation to the then new Tŷ Pawb opening day.