A SKATE park, a contemporary new housing development, student accommodation and the refurbished Mansion House took the top honours last night at the 2018 York Design Awards as the best of the city’s architecture once again took centre stage.

The biggest winner of all on the night - picking up two awards, the Lord Mayor's Award and the award for conservation/ restoration - was the Opening Doors project at the Mansion House. The £2.6 million refurbishment was the most comprehensive restoration of Lord Mayor’s official Grade I listed residence since its completion in 1732.

Other winners announced at a glitzy awards ceremony at the Ron Cooke Hub at the University of York last night included the restoration of the Great East Window at York Minster, the Red Tower on Foss Islands Road, which has been transformed into a café and community hub, the Scala Yard development off Fossgate and the Vita Student scheme on Lawrence Street.

A new award for 2018 was the Sustainability Award, which went to The Granary in Fulford: a conservation-led, self-build conversion of 19th century farm buildings into the office of Native Architects.

The judges praised the building for its “exemplary use of low carbon design techniques throughout” and the “brave and inventive reuse of a redundant former granary building to provide new employment space.” The Granary also won the Commercial category.

Most winners were decided by a panel of four judges, all distinguished architects, who visited all the entries earlier this year.

One category was dedided by reader sof The Press and members of the public, however.

Voting for The Press peo[ple's ward was hugely close this year, with just a handful of voptes etween the top three entries. But the award went to The Chocolate Works Care Village on Bishopthorpe Road. The former head office building of the Grade II listed Terry’s Chocolate factory has been converted into a residential care village featuring shops, hair salon, coffee shop, cinema and pub.

Chair of the York Design Awards committee Janet Hopton said: “Congratulations to all our 2018 award winners. We were delighted with the quality of the entries once again this year, which presented our judging panel with a tough challenge deciding which projects should take the honours.”

The full list of York design Awards winners:

RESIDENTIAL – INDIVIDUAL DWELLINGS

Regency Villa

Client/Developer Owners

Architect/Designer Native Architects

Builder JMark Construction Ltd

RESIDENTIAL - SMALL DEVELOPMENTS

Scala Yard, Fossgate

Client/Developer Fossgate Developments Ltd

Architect/Designer DLA Design Group

Builder GEM Construction Ltd

RESIDENTIAL - LARGE DEVELOPMENTS

Vita Student York, Lawrence Street

Client/Developer Vita Group

Architect/Designer Fuse Studios Ltd

Builder Wates

PUBLIC/COMMUNITY

Red Tower, Foss Islands Road

Client/Developer Red Tower York CIC

Architect/Designer Holland Brown Architects

Builder Croft Farm Construction

Rowntree Park Skate Park

Client/Developer City of York Council

Architect/Designer Wheelscape Ltd

Builder City of York Council and Wheelscape Ltd

COMMERCIAL

The Granary, Fulford

Client/Developer Native Architects

Architect/Designer Native Architects

Builder Native Architects

CONSERVATION/RESTORATION

Great East Window, York Minster

Client/Developer Chapter of York

Architect/Designer Arrol & Snell

Builder York Glaziers Trust

14 Lendal

Client/Developer York Conservation Trust

Architect/Designer York Conservation Trust

Builder York Conservation Trust

Opening Doors, York Mansion House

Client/Developer City of York Council

Architect/Designer De Matos Ryan

Builder William Birch & Sons

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

The Granary, Fulford

Client/Developer Native Architects

Architect/Designer Native Architects

Builder Native Architects

LORD MAYOR’S AWARD

Opening Doors, York Mansion House - Lord Mayor’s Award

Client/Developer City of York Council

Architect/Designer De Matos Ryan

Builder William Birch & Sons

THE PRESS PEOPLE’S AWARD

The Chocolate Works Care Village, Bishopthorpe Road

Client/Developer Springfield Healthcare

Architect/Designer NORR Consultants Ltd

Builder Simpson (York) Ltd

Find out more about the York Design Awards at www.yorkdesignawards.org.