Winners of the Buckinghamshire Design Awards 2022/23

Judges commented on the communal characteristics of the open space aspect of this design, noting its attractiveness, and its contribution to regeneration.

Taplow Riverside is a new development located near the village of Taplow situated between the River Thames and the Jubilee River at the former St Regis Paper mill Site.

It has provided new homes for an expanding community, whilst completely transforming the old Paper Mill Site and how it was used. It is now a mixed-use regeneration scheme in a distinctive riverside setting, comprising of 211 dwellings within 21 acres of public open space, alongside a new footbridge, restaurants, employment space and a boatyard.

The site holds a series of historic buildings that have been refurbished as part of the development. These refurbished buildings make up 25 of the 211 homes on site, of which some benefit from private riverside moorings.

Taplow Riverside has become a vibrant and welcoming place, frequently used and enjoyed by both residents and the wider community. Connectivity to the wider area has been improved by creating a network of cycle paths and footpaths, including a new footbridge, alongside open green spaces, informal meeting and play spaces and outdoor fitness equipment. The provision of pubs/restaurants and public car parking have helped to make Taplow Riverside not only a place to live, but also a leisure destination, resulting in a huge increase to footfall in and around the site.

Off Church Lane in Chalfont St Peter lies a green and unspoiled closed burial ground, which passed into the ownership of the Parish Council in the 1970’s. Headstones have been moved to the boundary of the garden. It has an upper lawn which has a war graves section, including a VC holder, while the lower lawn has been the focus of this project so far.

Former Chiltern District Council’s Open Space Strategy identified that Chalfont St Peter had no public garden and no space for quiet reflection, relaxation or to escape noise and traffic. The Centenary of the end of World War I was the prompt for the Village Action Group to elevate this unloved and overlooked garden into a fitting memorial garden for the village while also providing a secluded haven for wildlife and a safe space for quiet reflection.

One of our heritage plaques has been erected at the garden entrance, a metal soldier has been placed on a plinth, and the garden is now part of our village Heritage Walk. The garden is seen as both an outdoor museum and a rejuvenated 'pocket park'. Further enhancements here are proposed by the Parish Council.

It has been a unique opportunity to breathe new life into a forgotten, hidden space in the heart of the village which many residents did not know existed.

The retrofit and extension of the Grade II listed Brunel Engine Shed was described as a ‘clear winner’ and applauded for bringing new life back to High Wycombe and for occupying an important ‘place-shaping role’ for the town.

The Brunel Engine Shed was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway in 1854.

Buckinghamshire New University has exciting plans to use the renovated Brunel Shed as a public café and gallery space as well as a workspace for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses spinning out of the university.

Recent renovations include:

• new slate roof in keeping with its original Victorian character
• repair of the original timber queen post trusses designed by Brunel
• large areas of glazing and rooflights added to dramatically increase natural light
• exterior landscaping added
• step-free accessibility including elevator to mezzanine level

The project comprised the restoration of the historic but dilapidated Conservatory Café, to make it fit for purpose as a high-quality café for the National Trust at Cliveden House.

A major part of the project was the re-roofing of the Grade II listed Conservatory which dated from the 1980s and was leaking.

Accessibility has also been improved by re-grading of approach surfaces to achieve level access, the addition of power assist doors, and the reconfiguration of the servery and seating to provide more flexible space and improved circulation, as well as softer furnishings to reduce reverberation.

The completed Conservatory Café is now a delight to visit, offering high quality, accessible facilities in a unique historic setting that is befitting of Cliveden House.

Badminton House is a listed building with a classical 18th-century brick facade and is a good example of the 18th century bricklayer’s art.

In recent years, the facade started bulging and distorting, indicating it was moving. The outer layer of brick was peeling away. An innovative solution was needed.

The contractor has successfully retained the front wall using a steel frame and welded wire mesh lattice. Timber panelling and other features were adjusted carefully to accommodate the new steel frame.

This design was described as ‘stunning’ and ‘spectacular’ with an ‘amazing’ choice of locally sourced materials that contribute to its sustainability and ethos.

This is a unique eco-build children’s nursery in Bellingdon, Buckinghamshire, set amongst the beautiful Chiltern Hills. The project was designed to make use of locally sourced materials from the Chilterns in order to create a sustainable, low carbon, healthy building in which the children could thrive. Many of the materials have been produced and supplied by a local brickmaker.

There is no cement in the building at all, saving a significant amount of CO2 that would otherwise have been used in its production. The foundations were filled with field flint from the surrounding fields, avoiding the need for concrete. The internal and external brickwork has all been laid using lime mortars which are more sustainable, and more attractive, than cement-based mortars.

Bespoke glazed tiles have been used for the kitchen and bathrooms, as glazed bricks for the internal ledge of the dome. Selected internal walls have been decorated with interesting features and mosaic animals to add an educational sense of fun, befitting its use as a nursery.

The roof structure is made of laminated timbers and supports a green roof seeded with wildflowers, which has blended seamlessly into the landscape.

Chelwood is a new modern family home in Chesham Bois, Amersham, replacing a dilapidated existing suburban house.

The house is pushed up to the northern boundary to maximise the south facing garden.

Taking local forms, traditions and crafts, and mixing them with innovative and contemporary systems is a key part of the design.

Chelwood incorporates many sustainable design principles. To reduce embodied carbon, demolition materials were re-used for the sub-base below the ground ventilated void and under the hard landscape areas.

West House shelters in an outskirt of the pleasure gardens at Stowe. A winding path meanders through the woods, leading to a cluster of two-story houses, where West House proudly stands alongside three Neo-Georgian masters’ residences. It provides 24 study bedrooms, each equipped with en-suite facilities, staff living areas, common rooms, gardens, and terraces.

The building is split into two blocks: the first a low-lying two-storey block with external terrace and main shared facilities, and the second is partially sunken into the ground and extends over three floors.

The use of colour aids legibility and accessibility within the space, with the bedrooms in more muted colours. White fitted furniture serves as a backdrop to vibrant flooring, while window seat fabrics and curtains feature warmer neutral tones.

Judges felt the winner of the New Communities category had done well to design a building that draws people into a welcoming space and a building that has had a transformative impact in the surrounding community. Judges also noted the sustainability of the design and felt that there had been an interesting application of design to incorporate sport, leisure, and community spaces.

The Chilterns Lifestyle Centre replaced the ageing Chiltern Pools complex and in addition to health and fitness facilities, it provides a community centre, library, youth club and children’s nursery - all under the one roof.

The spirit of the design approach is ‘Something for Everyone.’ These ageing services were originally spread rambling across several separate buildings across the site.

The new building is twice as efficient as the old facilities, with a significantly lower carbon footprint, a Building Energy Rating EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) Category A-23 and a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) rating of “Very Good”.

Clarendon House is a 61-bed care home plus 14 assisted living apartments. It was built on a previously vacant but prominent location in the heart of Buckingham’s historic centre. Existing patterns of development in this part of the town reflect traditional ‘burgage plots’, where a single strong building line faces the High Street with long narrow plots extending to the rear.

This historic form of development has been used in the architectural and design response for this scheme. It gives the impression of two narrow linear blocks, which are subtly linked, sitting within a burgage plot.

The development utilises a simple palette of mostly natural, traditional materials – a variety of brick, slate and clay roofing, and timber brise soleil – along with more modern detailing relating to the box windows and recessed brick work.

Judges commented on the communal characteristics of the open space aspect of this design, noting its attractiveness, and its contribution to regeneration.

Taplow Riverside is a new development located near the village of Taplow situated between the River Thames and the Jubilee River at the former St Regis Paper mill Site.

It has provided new homes for an expanding community, whilst completely transforming the old Paper Mill Site and how it was used. It is now a mixed-use regeneration scheme in a distinctive riverside setting, comprising of 211 dwellings within 21 acres of public open space, alongside a new footbridge, restaurants, employment space and a boatyard.

The site holds a series of historic buildings that have been refurbished as part of the development. These refurbished buildings make up 25 of the 211 homes on site, of which some benefit from private riverside moorings.

Taplow Riverside has become a vibrant and welcoming place, frequently used and enjoyed by both residents and the wider community. Connectivity to the wider area has been improved by creating a network of cycle paths and footpaths, including a new footbridge, alongside open green spaces, informal meeting and play spaces and outdoor fitness equipment. The provision of pubs/restaurants and public car parking have helped to make Taplow Riverside not only a place to live, but also a leisure destination, resulting in a huge increase to footfall in and around the site.

Judges described this design an important linkage route for Aylesbury that provides more opportunity for a greater number of people to travel sustainably. It’s connectivity into the town centre was also applauded.

This walking, wheeling and cycling route was first established in the 2000s as part of the Gemstone Active Travel Network and was originally called Emerald Way, running from the town centre to the communities of Fairford Leys and Haydon Hill. It was renamed the ‘Platinum Way’ in celebration of the late HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The project was composed of two key elements:

Upgrading the existing Emerald Way to comply with current active travel design standards;

Extending the route from Haydon Hill to Berryfields and Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station – the ‘Haydon Hill Link’.

These upgrades, together with the route extension to Berryfields represent a dramatic improvement in active travel infrastructure for north-west Aylesbury, establishing a continuous dedicated off-road walking, wheeling and cycling route between Aylesbury town centre and Waddesdon.

Two of Aylesbury’s newest neighbourhoods are Berryfields and Buckingham Park, situated to the north-west and north of the historic town centre, and are home to schools, shops, community amenities and workplaces; Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is situated in Berryfields. This means there is a lot of demand for travel between the two neighbourhoods.

However, existing infrastructure for walking, wheeling and cycling between these areas was limited. Paths alongside the River Thame are prone to frequent flooding. The path along Martin Dalby Way runs immediately adjacent to a fast, busy arterial road.

St Peter’s Greenway was conceived as a safe, convenient and accessible route, making it easier for people to walk, wheel or cycle for their journeys. An entirely off-road route, it runs through an area of calm, rural tranquillity offering respite from adjacent busy, noisy urban areas.

As a working rural landscape, fencing and gating arrangements have been designed to be accessible for all path users whilst protecting livestock and facilitating farming operations.

The path has been promptly embraced as a community asset by local residents since its opening in October 2022. Volunteers have planted trees along the route and local schoolchildren have participated in chalk art competitions.

The winner of the Climate Change & Nature category is one that ticked all the boxes. Its distinctive materials are sourced and made locally, with very low embodied carbon and distinctive characteristics that the innovative architectural design makes excellent use of. The natural materials extend to a green roof and with a high degree of natural insulation throughout the building, energy consumption is very low.

This design was described as ‘stunning’ and ‘spectacular’ with an ‘amazing’ choice of locally sourced materials that contribute to its sustainability and ethos.

This is a unique eco-build children’s nursery in Bellingdon, Buckinghamshire, set amongst the beautiful Chiltern Hills. The project was designed to make use of locally sourced materials from the Chilterns in order to create a sustainable, low carbon, healthy building in which the children could thrive. Many of the materials have been produced and supplied by a local brickmaker.

There is no cement in the building at all, saving a significant amount of CO2 that would otherwise have been used in its production. The foundations were filled with field flint from the surrounding fields, avoiding the need for concrete. The internal and external brickwork has all been laid using lime mortars which are more sustainable, and more attractive, than cement-based mortars.

Bespoke glazed tiles have been used for the kitchen and bathrooms, as glazed bricks for the internal ledge of the dome. Selected internal walls have been decorated with interesting features and mosaic animals to add an educational sense of fun, befitting its use as a nursery.

The roof structure is made of laminated timbers and supports a green roof seeded with wildflowers, which has blended seamlessly into the landscape.

The Airfield Pavilion project started in 2017 as part of a new housing development in the growing village of Haddenham. The brief from Haddenham Parish Council was to provide a building primarily for sports and to also have a community space.

The interior of the building splits uses between either side of the main entrance lobby, with sports to one side and the function space to the other. This allows the dual-purpose building to be run as separate elements or as one.

Within the ‘Sports Wing’ there are two team changing rooms with showers & toilets which have been designed to Sport England standards, plus a referee's changing room.

With biodiversity and sustainability at the heart, there is a partial green living roof and part zinc roof with solar PV panels. Construction materials were also selected with longevity in mind. Energy and water use have been minimised and the building has achieved an ‘A’ rated EPC (Energy Performance Certificate).

The Brunel Engine Shed was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway in 1854.

Buckinghamshire New University has exciting plans to use the renovated Brunel Shed as a public café and gallery space as well as a workspace for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses spinning out of the university.

Recent renovations include:

• new slate roof in keeping with its original Victorian character
• repair of the original timber queen post trusses designed by Brunel
• large areas of glazing and rooflights added to dramatically increase natural light
• exterior landscaping added
• step-free accessibility including elevator to mezzanine level