The City Heritage Award

The City Heritage Award was conceived in 1978 as a way to encourage building developers and their architects to consider refurbishment and renewal rather than redevelopment for worthwhile City buildings.  The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers has partnered the City Heritage Society in their important and successful award event, with the Lord Mayor of the day presenting the award each year.

Recipients have been greatly varied.  The very first, in 1978, was for the most modest of little office buildings in the St. Batholomew’s area.  Others have been very grand buildings, indeed, including the St. Paul’s Cathedral, Mansion House, Royal Exchange, and the Bank of England.  In many instances the award was made to recognise how cleverly new uses had been found for buildings where original use was no longer required – warehouse arches under Cannon Street Station converted to a Sports Club, the Bracken House Newspaper and Printing Works transformed into new headquarters for the Industrial Bank of Japan, new uses found for redundant City banking halls, with the National Westminster in Lothbury becoming an art gallery.

More recent awards have been made for a typically wide range of vastly different buildings.

Developers, architects and contractors are invited to submit details of possible entries to the City Heritage Society Chairman, at the following address:

Chairman, City Heritage Society
c/o The Clerk
Painter-Stainers’ Company
Painters’ Hall
Little Trinity Lane
London
EC4V 2AD

The next award will be made in 2024 for refurbishment projects completed in the year ending 21st December, 2023.

The individual Awards are described in greater detail in the Annual Reports.