Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library Derbyshire, East Midlands Building News, English Architecture Award
Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library Building
29 April 2022
Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library, Belper, Derbyshire
Thursday 28th of April 2022 – five projects were selected by the expert jury, who visited all of the shortlisted projects.
Design: Glancy Nicholls Architects

Photos © Verity Milligan
Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library, Derbyshire
Jury Report
The Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library combine to create a project that bridges a number of current issues for our built environment. It has taken the derelict backland industrial site of the Thorntons chocolate factory within Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site, and connected it back to the energy of the high street. The architects? team and their local authority clients have made the enlightened decision to combine a residential care building for the elderly with a new library for the town, with both uses accessing a shared courtyard and public cafe. The panel felt this was a brave stand against the traditional isolation of elderly care, extending independence, and improving the dignity and quality of life of residents.

The brick facades of the old factory were in a sorry state and there must have been a strong case to demolish or at least to retain far less of the existing structure on this contaminated brownfield site. The team were clearly committed to re-use as much of the fou...