Sunderland's Seventeen19 scoops major architecture awards after saving Holy Trinity Church

Once a dilapidated building in major need of repairs, Holy Trinity Church reopened as Seventeen19 – named after the year the church first opened – last year after a £5million project to restore its historic features and give it new life thanks to a 10-year project by the Churches Conservation Trust and its partners.

Standing proud in the East End, Holy Trinity Church was unique in serving a dual role for both worship and civic administration.

Sunderland’s founders (the 24 Vestrymen) met here and were at the centre of decisions regarding sanitation, poverty and law when Sunderland was one of the world’s major ports in the eighteenth century.

Once a cornerstone of Sunderland life, it housed the old town’s council chamber, magistrates’ court, Sunderland’s first reading room and library and was once home to a fire cart in the early days of fire fighting.

Since its painstaking restoration to put it back in the heart of the community as a multi-purpose events space, the building has won a raft of awards for craftsmanship, conservation and regeneration and now the project picked up three prestige RIBA Awards (Royal Institute for British Architects): RIBA North East Award 2023, RIBA North East Building of the Year Award 2023 and RIBA North East Conservation Award 2023.

These three awards top six other awards including Museums and Heritage Awards (restoration/conservation project of the year), The Georgian Group’s Architectural awards, Re-use of a Georgian Building 2022, The National Brick Award, Highly commended for conservation and restoration, Winner (North East), and Highly commended (National) The National Construction Excellence Award for Restoration & Conservation, The Marsh Award Volunteering (North), bringing the totals to four national and five regional awards.

Speaking about the project, the RIBA judges said: “The whole project is an outstanding example of the craft, imagination and perseverance required to work with a structure that was in incredibly poor condition.

"The jury visited at the end of a long day but they were immediately uplifted by the sense of calm, the understated and rigorous detailing, the passion and commitment of the client and architect team and the sheer beauty of how light, materiality and amenity have been woven together.”

RIBA North East Award winners will now be considered for a RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, to be announced on June 22. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning projects later in the year.

Tim Mosedale, Director, Mosedale Gillatt Architects said: “We are thrilled to win these prestigious awards for 17Nineteen – it is a culmination of amazing dedication from the entire project  team and would not have been possible without the expertise and commitment of The Churches Conservation Trust.

"These awards demonstrate that blending the best in heritage conservation techniques with sensitive,  modern interventions can help  transform a Grade I-listed  building, and successfully remove it from the Heritage At Risk Register.”

Since opening in 2022, the onsite team have worked hard to re-connect this forgotten part of Sunderland with the wider region, and has seen visitors from across the globe.

The decline of the shipbuilding industry moved the city’s centre away from the port and despite its rich history, exquisite architecture and being caretaker of thousands of stories, in the 1980’s Holy Trinity was in real danger of being lost forever due to crippling repair and conservation costs.

Thanks to investment from trusts, charities, donors, individuals across the UK including the National Lottery Heritage Fund, together with the combined efforts of more than 200 partners, local people, and skilled craftspeople this Grade I-listed Georgian building has been transformed.

Greg Pickup, Churches Conservation Trust Chief Executive, said: “This recognition is testament to the whole team’s efforts, the quality of what has been achieved and our ethos of championing community led regeneration in tandem with exemplary design and conservation work.

"It is an honour and I am really proud that Seventeen19 has received such prestigious awards as well as such a glowing citation from the Royal Institute of British Architects.”