Joint Winners Announced for 'Chiswick's 51st Building' Prize
Business park footbridge and St Michael's on Elmwood Road share the honour
Chiswick Business Park footbridge and St. Michael's Church
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Chiswick is to have both a 51st and 52nd building after a panel of judges were unable to choose between two candidates.
The beautiful Arts & Crafts church of St Michael's Elmwood Road and the elegant 21st Century Footbridge at Chiswick Business Park have been named as joint winners of the competition to find 'Chiswick's 51st Building', run by the 'Exploring Chiswick' campaign.
More than 20 Chiswick buildings were nominated by local residents to be judged alongside those in a new book, Chiswick in 50 Buildings, by Lucy McMurdo. Copies of the book, donated by Amberley Publishing, will go to the proposers of the winning buildings – Reverend Martine Oborne, the vicar of St Michael's Elmwood Road, and Alexandra Whiley, who nominated the footbridge.
“It's a good thing we had two books to give because so many buildings were worthy of inclusion” said the chair of the judges, Torin Douglas, director of the Chiswick Book Festival. “We also had competing criteria to consider – from the number of entries to claims of historic, architectural, artistic or literary merit.”
In the end, there was unanimity among the judges - the book's author Lucy McMurdo; Karen Liebreich, co-creator of the Chiswick Timeline mural; Charles Lawrence, architect and publisher; and Torin.
Lucy McMurdo said, “I'm delighted we were able to choose St Michael's Elmwood Road. The only reason it was omitted from my book was that I had so many churches and Arts & Crafts buildings already.”
St Michael's received nine nominations but, on its own, this would not have ensured its selection. It was praised for its Arts & Crafts architecture by WD Caroe; stained glass windows by Horace Wilkinson; and 'free flamboyant Gothic stone tracery,' described by Pevsner. The judges found it hard to choose between the entries, so awarded the prize to the vicar, Rev Martine Oborne, on behalf of all at St Michael's.
Charles Lawrence is another fan of St Michael's and also of the Chiswick Park Footbridge, which he called “A world class engineering masterpiece, exquisitely carried out”. Karen Liebreich said, “My family said 'It's not a building', so we discussed this and we all agreed that it should nevertheless be included.”
The Chiswick Park Footbridge was designed by the Expedition engineering company and its sister company Useful Studio.
Chiswick in 50 Buildings by Lucy McMurdo can be purchased here.
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February 27, 2021
