A Rye couple and a Rye architect have won awards from the Sussex Heritage Trust for major conservation projects. The two awards were for the restoration of a listed building, Norman House in West Street, and for the restoration of Peasmarsh Memorial Hall dating from the 1920s.
Doctors Andrew and Liz Bamji had thoroughly restored a building that was in very poor condition, said the judges. The front elevation had been properly restored, exposing the original brickwork and features to allow the fabric to breathe. They also said that the ecological needs of our age had been incorporated within the constraints of the building.
Julian Luckett of Rye Conservation Society welcomed the award. Earlier in the year he had presented the Bamjis with the society’s award for a major contribution to the townscape of Rye.
The Peasmarsh hall, restored by Rye architect Dominic Manning, won the award for becoming an excellent and sustainable community facility incorporating many “green” ideas.
The hall, which has no mains gas supply, is now heated, provided with hot water and supplied with electricity by a mix of solar panels and an air source heat pump. The hall’s running costs are helped by a Feed-in Tariff from the panels (selling on any surplus energy) and the lighting is low-energy and motion activated.
The hall also has underfloor heating along with draught-proofing and insulation better than current building standards.
Photos supplied by Dominic Manning of Manning Duffie Architects