Church architecture awards shortlists announced

Modern extension at Clare Priory

The shortlists for two major church architecture awards have been announced by the National Churches Trust and the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association today. The awards are: the 2015 Presidents' Award for new church architecture and the 2015 King of Prussia Gold Medal for repair and conservation church architecture.

2015 Presidents' Award for new church architecture

Eleven projects have been shortlisted for the 2015 Presidents' Award for new church architecture award, run by the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association and the National Churches Trust. The shortlisted entries are listed below in alphabetical order of place name. In 2015, 25 entries were received - a record number.

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Bolton, All Souls Church - OMI Architects

Clare, Clare Priory - Inkpen Downie

Fenham, St James & St Basil's Church - Kiosk Architecture and Design

Frampton-on-Severn, St Mary the Virgin - John C Goom

Houston, Houston & Killellan Kirk - Jewitt & Wilkie

Hungerford, Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church - Jeremy Bell

Kingston-upon-Thames, All Saints' Church - Ptolemy Dean Architects

London, Euston Road, Friends House - John McAslan + Partners

London, Spitalfields, Christ Church - Dow Jones Architects

Radford Semele, St Nicholas' Church - Caroe & Partners

Spalding, St John the Baptist's Church - The Whitworth Co-Partnership

Award Ceremony

The Architect and the scheme judged to be the overall winner and two runners-up will be announced by HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO at a special awards ceremony to be held at Westminster Cathedral Hall at 1.45pm on Thursday 5th November 2015.

About The Presidents' Award

New church buildings and new designs in church re-ordering, alterations or extensions are eligible for The Presidents' Award. The award is open to church buildings of all Christian denominations in the UK.

The Presidents' Award is awarded on behalf of the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association President and the National Churches Trust's Joint Presidents, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Projects are eligible if they have been completed within the last three years or after the Practical Completion stage in their development.

The winners of The King of Prussia Gold Medal for innovative, high quality church conservation or repair work will be also be announced at the awards ceremony, by Prince Nicholas von Preussen.

The award comprises a chalice and paten, originally commissioned by the Incorporated Church Building Society, and made after World War II, to be loaned to a new or seriously war damaged church. They are lent to the winning parish to be held by them for the next year. The winning church or chapel will receive a £500 prize.

Judges are looking for:

• Innovation, invention and originality

• Fitness for use as a church, or part of a church building, in the 21st century

• Does the work have the potential to bring new life to the church?

• Architectural Quality

• Sensitivity to Context

• Elegance of Construction & Detail

2015 King of Prussia Gold Medal for repair and conservation church architecture

Eleven projects have been shortlisted for the 2015 King of Prussia Gold Medal church architecture award for innovative, high quality church conservation or repair work, run by the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association and the National Churches Trust. The shortlisted entries are listed below in alphabetical order of place name. 18 entries were received.

• Bury St Edmunds, St Edmund's Parish Church - BHB Architects

• East Drayton, St Peter's Church - Soul Architects Ltd

• London, Gospel Oak, St Martin's Church - Rees Bolter Architects

• Neath, St David's Church - Garner Southall Partnership

• Newark, St Mary Magdalene Parish Church - Peter McFarlane Architect

• Newbury, Newbury Methodist Church - MEB Design

• North Featherstone, All Saints Church - Arctic Associates Ltd

• North Walsham, St Nicholas' Church -Nicholas Warns Architect

• Pirton, St Peter's Church - Nick Joyce Architects

• Rosyth, Rosyth Parish Church - City Architecture Office Ltd

• Windsor, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle - Martin Ashley Architects

The overall winner and two runners-up will be announced by Prince Nicholas von Preussen at a special awards ceremony to be held at Westminster Cathedral Hall at 1.45pm on Thursday 5th November 2015. The winners of The Presidents' award for new church architecture will be also be announced at the awards ceremony by HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO.

For the King of Prussia Gold medal award, the winning church or chapel will receive a £500 prize. The winning Architect will receive the King of Prussia Gold Medal, the gift of King Frederick William IV of Prussia (1795 - 1861) to the Incorporated Church Building Society in 1857 .The award has been made annually since the early 1980s, when the medal was re-discovered during an office move. The medal is held by the winning Architect for one year and afterwards a silver replica is provided.

The award is open to the Architect or Chartered Surveyor on any scheme of repair for a church or chapel of any Christian denomination in the UK, in use for regular worship, and over one hundred years old. The scheme must have been funded by a grant or loan from the National Churches Trust, or would have been eligible for such a grant or loan, and have been completed within the last three years.

Judges are looking for:

Innovative, high quality church conservation or repair work that has successfully overcome a major aesthetic or technical challenge.

For more information visit: www.nationalchurchestrust.org