New awards celebrate historic buildings and those that look after them

The SPAB Heritage Awards 2022 are now open for entries

The newly-launched SPAB Heritage Awards championing built heritage are welcoming entrants from across the UK and Ireland. Three new awards – Best Loved Building, Sustainable Heritage and Building Craftsperson of the Year – will join the SPAB’s established awards, Philip Webb and the John Betjeman Awards. 

The closing date for award entries is 28 March 2022, with the exception of the Philip Webb design award which will close on 12 September 2022. All entries will be judged by a selection of specialists working across the building conservation sector. Winners will receive their award at an event at Conway Hall in London, the atmospheric 1920s headquarters of the Ethical Society.

Matthew Slocombe, SPAB Director says: “The SPAB has always championed the traditional skills needed to look after our old buildings. Old buildings contribute positively to the world’s beauty and sustainability. When cared for well, they improve the quality of people’s lives and promote wellbeing. The SPAB Heritage Awards celebrate our historic buildings and those that care for them” 

The Best Loved Award is for the buildings that have been kept in good repair, that are well-maintained and loved by the community and/or their owner. This award not only recognises the building itself but also the owners, managers, professionals, practitioners and volunteers involved in carrying out regular maintenance and looking after the building. There is a public building and a private building category. The final winners of the SPAB Heritage Best Loved Award will be voted for by the public.

The Sustainable Heritage Award celebrates projects that take a ‘whole building’ approach when tackling sustainability. Winning projects will showcase best practice in sympathetic repair of historic fabric; good new design in historic context; and the sensitive use of appropriate materials and techniques to upgrade or improve a building. 

The Building Craftsperson of the Year Award recognises the best up-and-coming craftspeople working with traditional materials and old buildings across the UK and Ireland. The award is open to craftspeople and builders under the age of thirty or craftspeople and builders of any age who are new to their trade, following a career move. This award celebrates excellence in craft skills, whether that’s exemplified by someone working in traditional forms of construction (e.g. bricklayer, conservation builder, glazier) or in a related skills area (e.g. sign writing, wallpaper printing, clock making). 

The Philip Webb Award is a design competition that asks entrants to devise a scheme which sympathetically revitalises a historic building for reuse through careful repair of existing fabric and a significant element of new construction in a contemporary design. It is open to recent Part II graduates and current Part II students from Schools of Architecture in the UK and Ireland.

The John Betjeman Award celebrates excellence in the repair of places of worship of all denominations and faiths. The award is given for repair projects at historic faith buildings (such as churches, chapels, meeting houses, synagogues, mosques, temples) which remain in use for worship. Cathedrals of any denomination are not eligible. Projects can be of any scale but must be for a specific part of the building’s fabric or a significant element of its fittings or furnishings, rather than a general programme of works. Projects must have been carried out within the previous two years.

The SPAB is delighted to welcome Storm Bespoke Secondary Glazing, a company the SPAB has worked with for 15 years, on board as the headline sponsor of the SPAB Heritage Awards. Terra Measurement, a surveying, measurement and engineering services company, sponsor the Philip Webb Award.

If your company is interested in sponsoring the SPAB’s other awards, please contact contact the SPAB: info@spab.org.uk

All awards are open to entrants from the UK and Ireland. The main entry period runs 1 October 2021 – 28 March 2022. The Philip Webb Award entry period runs: 18 July – 12 September. 

Notes to editors 

For image requests, more information or quotes from our SPAB Ireland and SPAB Scotland colleagues contact Ali McClary: ali.mcclary@spab.org.uk 

For further information about the awards please visit the SPAB website: www.spab.org.uk/get-involved/awards 

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) was founded by William Morris 140 years ago to care for and preserve the UK’s architectural heritage. Since its foundation, SPAB has been committed to maintenance matters, in line with William Morris’ exhortation to: “Stave off decay by daily care.” Today it is a dynamic organisation, and registered charity (no. 231307), taking building conservation into the future. To find out more visit www.spab.org.uk