Read more of the RIBA announcement here.
Glancy Nicholls Architects win RIBA East Midlands Award 2022
Glancy Nicholls Architects win RIBA East Midlands Award 2022
Our Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library project is winner in the RIBA East Midlands Awards 2022
Quote from RIBA East Midlands Judges
The Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library combine to create a project that bridges a number of current issues for our built environment. It has taken the derelict backland industrial site of the Thorntons chocolate factory within Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site, and connected it back to the energy of the high street.
The architects’ team and their local authority clients have made the enlightened decision to combine a residential care building for the elderly with a new library for the town, with both uses accessing a shared courtyard and public cafe. Our panel felt this was a brave stand against the traditional isolation of elderly care, extending independence, and improving the dignity and quality of life of residents.
Drawing together care home, library and community amenities our holistic approach to the design, considering not only the environmental sustainability, but also the economic and social sustainability of the wider neighbourhood.
The welcoming and contemporary building enhances its location, with a contextual, high-quality design using local stone. The building also incorporates the sensitive refurbishment of parts of the original Thorntons Factory, repurposing the space and celebrating the story of its past.
The new civic space to the front of the building provides a new area of public realm, which encourages greater interaction with the wider community, enshrining the notion that care for the elderly is not something to be hidden away.
Quote from Danielle Swann
We have created a space with heart. Designed in line with the Stirling University Gold Standard for dementia design principles, the scheme has a focus on providing high quality environments with a focus on wellbeing and quality of life.
Working with Derbyshire County Council we share a passion of raising standards for residential care homes to extend levels of independence and protect the quality and dignity of life for our older generation.