OXFORD’S Westgate Centre has won a top design award.
It was among nine buildings which last night won RIBA South Awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
The awards ceremony took place at Newbury Racecourse.
READ AGAIN: 'Hideous and like a prison': civic society member reacts to Westgate design nomination
The £440m shopping centre reopened in October 2017 following a major revamp with a John Lewis and 100 new shops and restaurants.
The design team won alongside architects of Greenland Library at Brasenose College and those for The Beecroft Building at Oxford University.
Regional jury chairman Stuart McLarty said: “Every project reinforced the worth of the architect: so many schemes would have been so mundane, dull and often economically poorer without the architect’s contribution.
“What really stood out amongst the winners was the wonderful use and integration of warm, natural materials and finishes.
“Inventive solutions to a range of social and environmental problems hold centre stage this year and the successful synergy between client and architect continues to be the key in achieving an exquisite outcome.”
When the Westgate Centre was nominated Peter Thompson of Oxford Civic Society said the Oxpens facade ‘looked like a prison’.
RIBA South Award winners will now be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award, announced June 27.
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