Three Arts Council of Wales funded organisations- Ruthin Craft Centre; Safle, the Public Art Agency for Wales and Tŷ Newydd (pictured), National Writers’ Centre of Wales have all been shortlisted for a prestigious design award.
The three organisations are included in the shortlist of seven organisations or individuals 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 winner will be announced at a Royal Society of Architects Wales’s Annual Conference in the afternoon of November 27, 2009 at the St David’s Hotel & Spa in Cardiff. This will be the third time that the triennial prize has been awarded. The first winner in 2003 was the Great Glasshouse at the National Botanic Garden of Wales at Llanarthne in Carmarthenshire, whilst the second was awarded in 2006 to The Senedd in Cardiff Bay.
The description of Ruthin Craft Centre when the shortlist was announced said: “An outstanding new building has replaced this established and respected centre’s former inadequate accommodation. The architects have produced a building that is responsive to the function and context while its welcoming and approachable atmosphere satisfies local needs. It also bears the sophisticated characteristics of a world-class international cultural venue.”
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 cetre is also funded by the Welsh Assembly Government (Department of Economy and Transport), Denbighshire County Council, Ruthin Town Council and Cadwyn Clwyd.
Safle is celebrating the inclusion of its ‘Animal Wall’ project which was created by designer Gitta Gschwendtner, a German-born artist, who designed a living wall that houses a series of nesting boxes for birds and bats: 1,000 of them in the perimeter of the 1,000-unit Century Wharf residential development by Charles Church Developments in Cardiff Bay.
Wiard Sterk, Safle’s Executive Director said: “Over our many years of involvement in the development of Cardiff Bay, we have found various ways of integrating art, contributing aesthetically as well as practically. In this project Gschwendtner has found yet a further innovative expression of artistic engagement in the public realm and this commission by Charles Church Developments is a significant contribution to the overall collection of works in Cardiff”.
Sue Essex, the recently appointed Safle Chair and the ex-Assembly Member and Cabinet Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government has also been nominated for this award. Sue was selected for her singular contribution to improving and enhancing the environment of Wales; as an advocate and promoter of good design, the author of the Wales Spatial Plan and promoter of the Design Commission for Wales.
Tŷ Newydd was commended for its “sensitive addition to and reorganisation of a historic North Wales building which was once the home of David Lloyd George. Now it provides accommodation and a meeting place as the Welsh Writers’ Centre.”
Good luck to them all!
