Awards
Merseyside Civic Society makes a number of awards to individuals, organisations and projects that are deemed to make a significant contribution to the heritage and civic life of Liverpool City Region Award winners receive a beautifully crafted, framed certificate designed and produced by MCS Council Member, Trevor Skempton.
Rita Cheesman Award for Heritage Interpretation
Rita Cheesman was a pioneering Blue Badge Guide who did much to interpret the heritage of Liverpool and the wider City Region for residents and visitors alike. She died in the Autumn of 2012 and her family donated funds which Merseyside Civic Society used to establish an award to promote heritage interpretation in the city region, which, it was felt, deserved more attention and a better record of achievement. The first awards were made in 2013.
2024: Open Eye Gallery, dot-art and The Mersey Forest for ‘Tree Story: A History of Liverpool City Region through its trees‘
2023: Richard MacDonald and Emma Copestake
2020: Dr Richard Moore and Liverpool City Region Blue and Green Badge Guides
2019: Wirral History & Heritage Association, and, The Friends of Anfield
2017: Conservation Areas, Wirral
2015: West Kirby Museum
2013: Harriet Gilmour, New Liverpool City Region Blue Badge Guide
David Stewart Award
The David Stewart Awards were first given in 2013 to mark the longstanding personal contribution of David Stewart as MCS Treasurer and Council Member, and have since been used on occasion as a mark of the Society’s recognition of and appreciation for particular personal contributions.
2015: Frank Green
Mr Han Duijvendak
The winners of the inaugural Merseyside Civic Design Awards were revealed at a presentation evening held at Liverpool Arts Bar on Tuesday 28th November.
The Awards focus on high quality projects that enhance our shared experience of the places that surround us. Inaugurated this year to mark the 85th anniversary of Merseyside Civic Society and launched on National Civic Day, any project completed between 1st August 2018 and 31st July 2023 within Liverpool City Region was eligible for nomination.
After nominations were submitted by the public on the MCS website during the summer, a panel of independent judges visited shortlisted projects in October before reaching the following decisions:
Joint Best New Build Project
The Lighthouse Church by shedkm
Joint Best New Build Project
LJMU Student Life & Sport Buildings by Sheppard Robson
Best Conservation Project
The Municipal Hotel by Falconer Chester Hall
Highly Commended Conservation Project
India Buildings by Falconer Chester Hall
Best Landscape Project
West Kirby Flood Alleviation Scheme by AECOM
Best Cultural Project
Future Yard by Architectural Emporium
Best Small Hospitality Project
40 Renshaw Street by SDA Architecture
Best Large Hospitality Project
INNSiDE Liverpool by Corstorphine & Wright
Best Community Project
The Old Library by OMI Architects
Wellbeing Award
The Spine by AHR Architects
Organised by MCS Vice Chair and Civic Voice Trustee, Andrew Jackson, the Awards were judged by:
Mathew Giles
Director, MGMA Architects & Co-Director, Liverpool Architecture Foundation
Martin Hamilton
Chair, Civic Voice & Director, Leeds Civic Trust
Professor Sally Stone
Programme Leader for MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse, Manchester School of Architecture
Commenting on the winners, Andrew Jackson said:
“The inaugural Merseyside Civic Design Awards have been a huge success and demonstrate the wealth of top-quality architecture to be found across Liverpool City Region. I’d like to thank our judges, who braved the October weather to visit the entire shortlist in a single day, and without whom the Awards simply wouldn’t have happened. Congratulations to all the winning projects and I look forward to seeing some equally exciting nominees when the Awards return in 2025.”
