Pew, what a transformation

A standard Victorian church on the outside, but inside is a creative conversion that's the best in Wales, according to experts.

- Joanne Ridout reports

THE overall winner of the 2025 Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) Building of the Year award has been announced as the creative conversion of a Grade II-listed church into a community arts hub.

The building called Nyth, in Bangor, was created inside a Grade II-listed Victorian church by architects Manalo & White.

Nyth, which translates to nest in English, was designed as a base and performance space for theatre group Fran Wen, who work to create exciting, challenging and inspiring Welsh-language theatre, with a focus on supporting young people from low-income backgrounds to take part in the arts.

The Gothic-style church was built in 1864 by HP Horner, an architect based in Liverpool, and it is thought to have cost around £4,650, money partly donated by the future Lord Penrhyn. Cadw granted the church a Grade II listing in 1988.

The project's objective was to redesign the church into “a vibrant space for young people, artists and communities to connect and create” while preserving its history.