Client
Wales and West Housing Association
Location
Holywell, Flintshire
Value
£980,000
Date Completed
Spring 2004
Development Overview
The conversion of the former St. Winefride’s Convent School and School House into affordable apartments and a new build extension provides 14 homes in total. Within Holywell’s Conservation Area, The School was constructed in the late 19th Century, from stone and rendered brick walls, under a polychromatic slate roof. The only listed structure on the site was a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which has been carefully restored and returned to its imposing position.
The original historic convent buildings had been left to fall into a state of disrepair and the original brief allowed for the demolition of the buildings, due to their poor state of repair. To try and save this important building, grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Welsh Development Agency were obtained and a scheme of sensitive restoration and new build extension was developed.
Completed in February 2004 at a cost of £980,000 Plas Gwenfrewi was selected by the Design Commission for Wales as an exemplar housing project and is featured on their website.
Plas Gwenfrewi also received a Mention in the Civic Trust Awards 2005.
