A Royal Horticultural Society visitor centre has received a top architecture prize for its “sustainable and engaging” design.
The RHS Garden Bridgewater Welcome Building in Salford, which opened in May 2021, serves as the gateway to the charity’s 154-acre campus.
It was named the North West Building of the Year by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba).
The center’s visitor counts, according to Riba, “far exceeded expectations.”
When it opened in May of last year, RHS Bridgewater was hailed as Europe’s “largest hands-on horticultural endeavor.”
The Hodder and Partners-designed Welcome Building features a café, gift stores, ticket sales, and office space.
The location is “sustainable and engaging,” according to Riba, who added that the community was canvassed to “build a much-loved local asset.”
The £35 million facility was the first RHS garden to be developed in a city.
Projects were picked as “exemplars of the absolute finest of inventive, clever, and pleasurable design,” according to Riba president Simon Allford.
He went on to say that the award proved that “high quality, sustainable architecture can have a beneficial influence on the lives of those who interact with it.”
Lancaster Castle, Liverpool’s Old Library, and Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery were among the other North West initiatives to earn accolades.
Pooley New Bridge in Penrith and the Fratry building in Carlisle both received awards.
The Riba national award will be announced in June, and all six winners will be considered.
