Celebrating the best in conservation and new design
Oxford Preservation Trust’s annual awards scheme – which has been running since 1977– celebrates the best in conservation and new design. It recognises those projects which make a significant contribution to Oxford’s character, public realm, green spaces and communities.
Six winning plaques and 16 runner-up certificates were awarded to an array of brilliant projects at the awards ceremony, hosted by St John’s College on the evening of 5th November.
The Jackson Library at Exeter College, University of Oxford won the Building Conservation category. George Gilbert Scott’s 1857 building was restored and sensitively refurbished by architects Nex- and Donald Insall Associates. The scheme conserved Scott’s stonework, revealed his original interiors and took inspiration from his design to equip the building for the future.
There were two winners in the New Buildings category: Frewin Garden Building and St Paul’s and Cranham House. Acting for Brasenose College, Lee Fitzgerald Architects used the history of Frewin Hall’s ancient orchard to inform the playful design of Frewin Garden Building, a new student accommodation block. For the Lucy Group, architect Paul Southouse redesigned the corner of Walton and Cranham streets in Jericho, adapting and extending St Paul’s House to create more residential space, with commercial units at street level.
The Landscape and Public Realm category also saw two winners: Holywell Cemetery and Lemond & Fignon Bridges. At Holywell Cemetery, the hard work of volunteers, co-ordinated by The Friends of Holywell Cemetery, balanced historical preservation with biodiversity, creating a haven for wildlife and human visitors alike. The County Council’s repairs to the Marston Cycle Path included the technically complex refurbishment of the Lemond and Fignon Bridges, which cross the River Cherwell. The bridges, one of which is listed provide a critically important important public route through Oxford. It’s wonderful to know that they will serve us for years to come.
The Green Award was won by Reuben College, newly housed in the University of Oxford’s historic chemistry laboratories and science library. The refurbishment of these buildings, led by fjcstudio architects, involved the removal of over 800 tons of asbestos-contaminated materials and 4 pints of mercury. The project sets a new standard for the sustainable adaptation and re-use of historic buildings.
More information about the 2024 OPT Awards, photos from the evening, as well as details of all the runner up certificates can be found on the Oxford Preservation Trust’s website: https://www.oxfordpreservation.org.uk/annual-awards-2024
Anna Eavis, CEO said ‘Our winners all make an outstanding contribution to Oxford’s character and public realm. These very different schemes – which include imaginative new design, exemplary conservation and adaptive refurbishment – each demonstrate an awareness of the critically important relationship between past and present. Congratulations to all concerned!’
