Stourport Civic Society President: Will Scott
Enquiries: Pauline Annis 01299 826383 or e-mail
You can download the leaflets produced by the project by clicking on them below, or you can visit the Unlocking Stourport's Past website created by the Civic Society for a fascinating insight in to Stourport-on-Severn's history.
Stourport Civic Society - Awards 2004
Sponsored by Thomas Vale Construction Ltd
Areley Mews AWARD WINNER
This project was an infill development of five, two and three bedroomed houses. We met the developer, Mr and Mrs Powell and the Philip Stevens, of the main contractors. After looking at the outside we were able to look around one of the houses.
We were pleased to see how well this development fitted into the street scene. The frontage was carefully aligned in plan and in height and the roof pitch designed to follow the rest of the street. The materials were carefully chosen and the workmanship was excellent.
The front porches were delightful and created both pleasant and functional features inside and out. Inside, the ceilings were at a generous height and every inch of space was used to good effect. The interior was not cramped and the whole of the space was comfortable (confirmed by the owner). Even the loft was usable taking advantage of the steep roof pitch.
While the developer and his builder had thought of everything (evensecured car parking with automatic gates), there was still somethingleft for the enthusiastic owner to do, for example fitting out the loftspace, adding a conservatory/living room extension at the rear andeventually a rear garden wall or hedge when the fence needsreplacing.
All in all this was an exemplary piece of urban "dentistry" so carefully and modestly executed you could pass it without noticing it. An elegant and restrained project well worthy of the Civic Award.
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Areley Kings Village Hall COMMENDATION
This was a new building with a wide variety of community uses and incorporated many environmentally friendly features. We met Mr Reg Knott the Chairman of the Trustees who showed us round.
The re-use of grey water collected off the roofs and used to flush the loos, the high levels of insulation and double glazing were impressive. The landscaping was robust and well considered and the car park carefully planned with different block paving.
The whole building had the feel of a real village hall and will be very popular and is already well used for a wide variety of events. The large hall was impressive and had good acoustics, the meeting rooms and kitchen were well provided.
On the down side the overall design appeared rather "lumpy" and some of us wondered why the building was sited so far from the road frontage. Some of the stone block pointing was varied in colour.
Despite our comments on minor details we considered this project was worthy of a Commendation especially for the great community benefit it embodies and the environmentally friendly features of the design.
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The Drill Hall COMMENDATION
This was a mix of new build and conversion to form seven flats and two houses. We met Mr Parsons from John Martyn Construction, the developer.
Great care had been taken with the layout and the paving of the car park area, the services and the details of the design. The flats were comfortable and well thought out (except for the high door threshold). The materials used for the exterior were well chosen and the workmanship excellent.
The retention of part of the former drill hall complex and the re-use of the historic plaques all helped this project to reach a high standard. The care and attention to detail was impressive and justified our decision to give this project a Commendation.
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The Spires, Minster Road
Whilst the first impression of this development appeared pleasing, we were disappointed about many of the aspects of this design by a national house builder. Compared with the other two much smaller scaled developments, this project did not impress us.
The Bandstand, The Meadow
Every public park should have a bandstand and it was good to know that a busy programme of events were planned for the summer. While we were impressed with this project we considered that it did not quite make a Commendation.
Conclusion
This year we decided that there was one clear Award winner – Areley Mews and two Commendations.It was a pleasure to assist in the selection of the Civic Society Awards for 2004 and to meet the participants.
Our thanks are due to all of the participants in this year's Stourport-on-Severn Civic Society Award; in particular our congratulations go to those winners and all of their teams involved in each project.
Our commiserations go to those who did not win but who should still be pleased to have contributed to the well-being of Stourport-on-Severn.