Council receives three accolades for Bolsover housing project

Bolsover District Council has received three accolades from The Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust Architecture Awards, for the work it undertook at New Bolsover Model Village.

The awards, which were held in Buxton saw the Council receive accolades for:

1. Historic Building in an Urban Setting.

2. The Deborah Devonshire Award for Outstanding Project.

3. The Conservation Champion Award - Kim Wyatt (Heritage Conservation Manager for Bolsover District Council).

The £10million project at New Bolsover Model Village was one of the largest undertakings of listed housing renovation in the country and took four-years to complete. A total of 194 Grade II listed houses received full external renovation, with 138 Bolsover District Council owned properties also receiving additional internal thermal upgrades and renovation throughout.

The primary aim of the project was to restore the architectural uniformity of New Bolsover Model Village and increase the understanding of energy efficiency in historic buildings by improving the thermal efficiency of the houses.

Bolsover District Council Leader, Councillor Steve Fritchley said, “It was very important that we preserved these historic properties and bought them back to their former glory and these three awards are a credit to the team who worked on the project.”

Kim Wyatt was nominated for her involvement as she led the heritage project delivery throughout its entirety. She supervised the successful lottery bid, engaged with local residents’ and led the way to create a unique specific framework for other heritage and refurbishment projects.

Kim never tired of discussing the detail and investigating the potential at various stages of the project to realise a successful end product in use, fit for the future of the residents.

Councillor Fritchley added, “This was the first use of Heritage Lottery Funding for a housing project in the UK and saw a significant transformation of listed former colliery properties into exemplar homes. We are privileged to have received the awards and to have led on such an outstanding project.”