The Ringwood Society was delighted to present its annual Design and Conservation awards, sponsored by Lonsdale Wealth Management, on Tuesday 14th October, with three awards being presented by Society President, Steve Rippon-Swaine and Society Chairman, Alex Bancroft. The awards, delivered at the Society’s annual Autumn Open Meeting at Greyfriars Community Centre are the flagship event of the Society calendar. The awards, first launched in 1981, were revamped three years ago, and are awarded annually.
The Residential Award for went to Monsreed Limited and Williams Lester Architects for their New Houses at Strides Lane. This scheme was seen as an exemplary example of town centre residential development, with excellent attention to detail on the part of the client, contractors and architects. The change from a poor quality former pub car park to residential development was seen as a very welcome enhancement of the town. The properties are currently available to rent through Grants of Ringwood.
The first of this year’s two Commercial Awards went to Colston Trustees Limited, Kennedy’s Southern Limited and Winkle-Bottom Chartered Surveyors for the Restoration of Seldown House, 33 High Street. After nearly 200 years as a stationers, WH Smith vacated what is alleged to have been their smallest High Street store in 2022, having temporarily closed the previous year. This left what had become a very unloved building at the heart of our town, and the commitment shown by the team behind the project, on behalf of the client; Geoff Ralton, has brought back a building which is now a worthy addition to the High Street. The building is currently available to rent through Carr and Neave, and The Society looks forward to a new business joining Ringwood’s High Street soon.
The second Commercial Award for 2025 went to Love to B Skincare and Artful Charlie for the new signage at 14 The Furlong Shopping Centre. Love to B Skincare are a popular and expanding local business and their recent decision to revamp their signage at their Ringwood shop led to them appointing a traditional signwriter. This decision supports The Society’s aim for promoting traditional craftsmanship and the hand painted signage enhances the quality of the town’s retail appearance. It is hoped this will be seen as an example to others for future signage projects elsewhere.
Society chairman and local Chartered Architect; Alex Bancroft said “once again we have had a great crop of projects this year, reminding us of the continuing high standard of new work in the town. The three award winning projects are particularly gratifying, with these trio being excellent examples of what happens when a dedicated team commits to doing the best job they can for their scheme.” He continued: “We are particularly grateful to Lonsdale Wealth Management for their sponsorship of the Design and Conservation Awards this year and thank Howard Goodship, Stewart Sims-Handcock and their team for their support in making this years event happen. We are already looking forward to what the next twelve months will bring for next year’s awards!”
Nominations for the 2026 Ringwood Society Design and Conservation Awards are now open, and details of how to nominate a project are available on the Society website, along with full details of all of this years and previous years winners at www.ringwoodsociety.org.uk/awards