Ruthin Craft Centre has joined a list of prestigious winners in a Welsh design competition.
The Craft Centre was one of seven organisations or individuals on the shortlist for the Dewi-Prys Thomas Prize 2009, which recognises the importance of good design to the quality of life, identity and regeneration of Wales.
The centre was announced as winner during a ceremony in Cardiff this afternoon.
Previous winners include the Great Glass House at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales in Carmarthenshire and The Senedd in Cardiff Bay.
Ruthin Craft Centre was officially reopened in late 2008. The Centre, which is all on the ground level, is set around a courtyard and gives Ruthin Craft Centre three new galleries, a substantial retail gallery, a café, six artist studios and educational and residency facilities. This innovative building, designed by the award-winning architects Sergison Bates, is itself an example of the finest craftsmanship and puts Ruthin yet more firmly at the centre of contemporary applied art.
Ruthin Craft Centre received a £3.15 million Capital Lottery Grant from the Arts Council of Wales, one of the largest grants of its kind in North Wales. The other funders are: the Welsh Assembly Government (Department of Economy and Transport), Denbighshire County Council, Ruthin Town Council and Cadwyn Clwyd.
Councillor David Thomas, Cabinet Lead Member for Regeneration, said: “We are delighted that the Craft Centre been declared the winner of this prestigious award.
“The fact that the building has won or been shortlisted for several national design awards is a testament to the quality and excellence of the design of the building and is a true feather in the cap of not only the designers, but Denbighshire County Council and the world of contemporary applied arts in Wales.”
