LABC Building Excellence Awards 2022 winner: Best Non-residential Conversion

More than 850 leading construction industry figures attended the LABC Building Excellence Awards at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel to celebrate best practice, quality, and exemplary standards in construction.

The LABC Building Excellence Awards focus on professional skills and competence, as well as projects, with categories for ‘People’ and ‘Places.’

A panel of industry experts judged a selection of the highest quality projects, professionals, and teams from around England and Wales to showcase solutions to complex technical or construction issues, site constraints and technical innovation. The awards highlight the vital contribution public sector building control teams make as part of the project team, ensuring safe, sustainable, and high-quality construction projects. 

LABC is delighted to announce that the winner of the Best Non-residential Conversion is The Friends Meeting House, Bath. The project was designed by Mark Wray Architects and built by Wraxall Builders Ltd for Topping and Company Booksellers. 

Set within the conservation area and the World Heritage Site, the Friends Meeting House is positioned close to the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey and within the original Roman city walls. Originally designed as a Masonic Hall and subsequently used as an assembly room, exhibition space and non-conformist chapel, this project involved the stunning conversion of the hall, which had been closed since 2019, into an independent family-run bookshop. 

The LABC public service building control team from Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) were integral to the success of the project with a swift response and excellent communications at all stages of the project.

Congratulating the whole team on their success, Lorna Stimpson, LABC Chief Executive said,