The Theatre Royal in Norwich has been crowned the overall winner of the RICS East of England Awards 2008.
This major redevelopment project, of one of the region’s leading theatres in the heart of Norwich, Norfolk, fought off stiff competition to take the ‘Project of the Year’ prize during a glittering ceremony, held at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire, last night (Thursday 15 May).
Tim Foster, partner of Tim Foster Architects which designed the redevelopment of the theatre, said: “We are delighted that the remodelling of the Theatre Royal Norwich has been recognised by this award. The facilities and appearance of this very successful theatre have been transformed on a remarkably modest budget. It can now stand proud as the premier theatre in the region”.
Now in their 18th year, the RICS Awards celebrate and recognise exemplary projects across four award categories - building conservation, regeneration, sustainability, and community benefit.
The project saw the street elevation and front of house areas completely remodelled to provide greatly improved audience facilities. The 1,300 seat auditorium was also refurbished and modernised. Theatre Royal Norwich also won the Community Benefit Award.
In choosing the project as the Community Benefit Award winner and Project of the Year the judges said: “The very clear winner is Theatre Royal Norwich. It is a delightful place to visit and is a worthy winner of the award.”
The evening’s other top award winners were:
• Beeleigh Abbey, near Maldon, Essex , winner of the RICS East of England Building Conservation Award 2008
• RSPB Environment and Education Centre, Purfleet, Essex, better known as Rainham Marshes, winner of the RICS East of England Regeneration Award 2008
• Kingspan Lighthouse, Watford, Hertfordshire, winner of the RICS East of England Sustainability Award 2008.
David Potter, RICS East operations director, said: “Congratulations to all those who won an award or received a commendation. I wish them all the very best of luck in the international final later this year. I would also like to thank our sponsors and all of the other entrants for the huge amount of effort they put in, which ensured that this year’s competition was a big success.”
In addition to the category award winners several projects picked up commendations for excellence in their field. These were:
Building Conservation category
Highly commended – West Front of Bury Abbey, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Highly commended – Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Sustainability category
Highly commended – Roche Headquarters, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
The 2008 RICS East of England regional dinner and awards ceremony was hosted by BBC presenter, Janine Machin. Special guest speaker was John Spence, of Harlow Renaissance.
The event was kindly sponsored by ECA, English Heritage, English Partnerships, Inspire East and Ridgeons.
All of the winners of the RICS East of England Awards 2008 will now go through to the RICS Awards international final in London, in October this year.
