WREXHAM'S Ty Pawb has won another award for its architecture.

The markets, community and arts hub in Wrexham town centre has won a Welsh Architecture Award 2021 from the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW).

It will now go forward to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) UK awards, which celebrate architecture across the UK. If it were to win at the RIBA UK awards then it would go on to be a contender for the UK's biggest architectural award - the Stirling Prize.

Ty Pawb was one of three winners from Wales chosen by a jury of experts, with the other two being a 19th century cottage known as House in North Wales and Maggie's Cardiff, which is a cancer care centre.

The architects for Ty Pawb, which is home to various artistic and cultural events, as well as market stalls and an array of food outlets, were Featherstone Young. The project was led by Sarah Featherstone.

Highly-coveted

Ty Pawb has previously won three other architectural awards, including two from the Architects Journal and one from the National Eisteddfod, which were all won in 2019.

Regional jury chair, John Pardey said of this year’s Welsh Architecture Award winners: “In their own ways, the three award-winning projects are excellent. All three architects went the extra mile to make great design on a budget that with skill, sensibility and inventiveness made the ordinary quite extraordinary.

"The three buildings clearly demonstrated how much can be achieved within limited means.”

An RSAW spokesperson added: "RSAW Welsh Architecture Award winners will now be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced on Thursday, September 9. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning projects later in the year."

Courageously repurposed

A report on Ty Pawb written by the jury and now found on RIBA's website - architecture.com - states: "Formerly an unloved and under-used 1990s 'post-modern' market hall and multi-storey car park, the previously named People’s Market has been imaginatively and courageously repurposed as a Lottery-funded community and arts venue while also retaining its former functions."

It went on to say: "The strength of this project undoubtedly lies in what it seeks to achieve through reuse and repurposing of town centre building stock rather than the pursuit of an architectural statement. While there is a quality in the spaces created, the architecture serves as a backdrop and facilitator, rather than pushing itself to the forefront. Materials are robust, austere almost - steel, concrete, ply, hanging plastic screens, exposed ductwork and services - and functional."

The report concludes: "Ty Pawb ('Everyone’s House') takes a new look at the provision of facilities for the arts, seeking to make it accessible to all and inject relevance into the everyday lives of those who wouldn’t otherwise be attracted to a traditional gallery.

"In doing so, it provides a loose-fit solution that allows flexible and adaptable use, showing how the least likely of redundant public buildings can be imaginatively re-purposed to serve once more as vibrant community assets."

Leader Live has reached out to Ty Pawb and Wrexham Council for comment.