Formerly derelict Whanganui building a winner in architecture awards

The previously derelict Ridgway Chambers building has been converted into a gallery space and apartments. Photo / Steve Caudwell

Whanganui's revamped Ridgway Chambers has won a prestigious award for heritage architecture.

The formerly derelict building on the corner of Ridgway St and Drews Ave was bought by Hadleigh Reid in 2018 and converted into a gallery space and apartments designed by Drawing Room Architecture & Design.

The heritage award was one of 16 presented at Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Western Awards, which cover the Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatū regions, at a ceremony in New Plymouth on Friday night.

Judges described Ridgway Chambers as "contributing to the reactivation of a leafy CBD area earmarked for future urban regeneration".

Drawing Room Architecture & Design is a local practice, led by architect Elinor Harvey McDouall, which is also responsible for the Whanganui and Manawatū Plunket hub, the Whanganui public library's reinvigoration, and the fit-out of Sarjeant on the Quay.

In October Ridgway Chambers was named the supreme winner at the inaugural Whanganui Regional Heritage Awards.

Bulls' long-waited Te Matapihi Community Centre, by Architecture Workshop, was one of three winners in the public architecture category.

The awards jury praised the building, which opened in September 2020, as being a signifier of the beginning of a new civic centre for the town.

Te Matapihi Bulls Community Centre was recognised in the public architecture category. Photo / Grant Davis

Marton-based Felicity Wallace Architects' "Small Town House" was one of the winners in the housing category.

Three enduring architecture awards were presented, celebrating buildings 25
years or older that have stood the test of time.

One of the recipients was the 1984 Eddie Belchambers-designed Officers Barracks and Mess building at Waiouru Military Camp. The rarely-seen wood and concrete structure cascades down a forested hillside, with spectacular views of Mt Ruapehu.

The Waiouru Military Camp Officers Barracks and Mess building, designed by Eddie Belchambers, won an enduring architecture award. Photo / Paul L Marcroft