AESSEAL Factory for the Future. Credit: Peter Cook

Yorkshire’s RIBA shortlist lands

21 February 2025 09:00 Sally Gibson Comments (0)

Seven projects have been selected for the Royal Institute of British Architects Yorkshire Awards 2025, including the AESSEAL Factory in Rotherham and Sheffield’s The Wave.

Also on the list are Duncan Place Library, Hull Minster, Petronella House in Sheffield, Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery in York, and Young People’s Space in Leeds.

All projects shortlisted will be visited by a regional jury, and the winning projects will be announced later this spring.

The winners will be considered for several RIBA Special Awards, announced in summer, which will create the nominees for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building, announced in October.

AESSEAL Factory, Rotherham

Designed by Race Cottam Associates, 10-acre site has had a recent expansion, adding around 175,000 sq ft of new factory and office buildings to the manufacturer’s Rotherham headquarters (pictured above).

The project team included BDB Design Build, Ares Landscape Design, and structural engineers Waterman.

Sustainability and energy efficiency is key to the design, with ergonomic workspaces, a two-metre wide roof ‘light lantern’ spanning the machine shop to maximise daylight, and side-mounted louvres to provide ventilation.

Integrated with a Building Management System, these louvres and a series of vertical slot windows automatically adjust to let in fresh air and expel warm air through the lantern.

A glass link structure connects the old and new elements.

The Wave, Sheffield

Designed by HLM Architects, the £65m Faculty of Social Sciences belongs to the University of Sheffield and was built by BAM.

The 180,000 sq ft building was designed to meet future growth demands to the year 2035 and provide a sustainable environment that encourages collaboration.

Credit: BAM

Duncan Place Library & Community Hub, Loftus, North Yorkshire

The £2m renovation of the community centre was designed by EDable Architecture, with work carried out by Middlesbrough firm WB Construction.

The town’s library was moved into an extension of the building, alongside improved youth and family spaces.

The work is part of wider improvements to the town centre.

Credit: Sally Ann Norman Photography

Hull Minster

The £7.3m transformation of the grade one-listed building took 12 years to complete, starting in 2013. Alongside architects Bauman Lyons, the project team included Ferrey and Mennim (Now Donald Insall), Sutcliffe Consulting, Alan Wood & Partners, Morgan Wolff Approved Inspectors, and contractor Houlton.

Work included the Market Square, with Bauman Lyons collaborating with ReForm Landscape Architects, internal reordering, and an extension to the Trinity Room.

Credit: Octovision

Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery, York

Sited in the former locomotive repair workshop at the National Railway Museum, this interactive gallery for seven-14 year olds was designed by De Matos Ryan.

Elmwood Projects was the contractor on the scheme, which has 18 interactive exhibits showcasing different engineering and railway concepts.

Credit: Hufton+Crow

Young People’s Space

ArkleBoyce was commissioned by St Gemma’s Hospice to design the purpose-built facility in early 2020.

The building is for the Young People’s Service, who provide information and support for children and young people when someone in their family is seriously ill or has died.

The 490 sq ft building sits within the gardens of the hospice and is naturally ventilated, while heating and cooling are via an air source heat pump. This all-electric design is supported by on-site renewable generation via rooftop photovoltaics.

Credit: Building Narratives

Petronella House, Sheffield

Designed by Chiles Evan + Care Architects, the refurbishment and extension of a Victorian villa in a conservation area aimed to make it fit for modern living while also reinstating some features that were removed during previous conversions.

The modern extension. Credit: India Hobson

RIBA Yorkshire jury chair Gayle Appleyard, director of Gagarin Studio said: “From the tiny but well crafted pavilion space created for young people within a hospice, to the renovation of a grade one-listed church, and a cutting edge factory on a remediated industrial site, it’s brilliant to see the sensitivity and ambition manifest in all these shortlisted projects that evidently create inspiring, sustainable places in which to live, work, learn and play.”