Restoration and new uses at St Paul’s Church in Bristol’s Portland Square have won the top accolade for “Community Benefit” in the 2007 RICS Awards in the South West.

Conservation of this previously neglected Grade 1 listed church was a partnership between the owners, the Churches Charitable Trust, and the occupying tenants, Circomedia – Europe’s leading centre for circus and physical theatre.

Although originally entered in the awards’ “Building Conservation” category, the RICS judging panel’s investigation revealed how the church’s restoration and new uses have made a major impact on the local community – one of Bristol’s most deprived areas.

According to David Marsh, chairman of the judging panel:  “Circomedia undertakes a range of community work, and is a major provider of outreach activities to all sectors of the community.  This includes providing a venue for local groups, free ‘City Circus’ for children, ‘Circo 3’ for adults with barriers to employment, and various educational courses.

“Not only is the building open for all to walk in, the altar and choir stalls remain consecrated and are still used for occasional church services”, said Mr Marsh.

“Our award for Community Benefit honours both the faultless conservation of the building, and the new uses to which it has been put, which have an inestimable impact on one of Bristol’s most deprived areas”, he added.

The church’s project team will receive their regional award from the President of the RICS at the South West’s regional awards ceremony, at the Bishop’s Palace in Wells on 10 July.