Wincer Kievenaar Architects are celebrating after one of their projects received a Highly Commended under the Residential Category at this year’s RICS Awards East of England.

Along with construction contractor Rose Builders, the Hadleigh practice, was presented with the award at a gala dinner held at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds, for their work on an extension to a private dwelling, Monkey Lodge, which sits adjacent to the River Orwell, near Ipswich.

The project was conceived to transform a dilapidated Grade II listed lodge and gateway into an accessible family home through internal modifications and a contemporary glass extension. Wincer Kievenaar Architects completed all the design work to enable the construction of a modern extension and sympathetic restoration that would preserve the integrity of the lodge and provide it with a new lease of life. The judges were impressed with how “key consideration was given to the mobility of the clients in achieving a family home which met their needs whilst maximising their use of the space and views across the river landscape”.

Monkey Lodge was the only Suffolk project to pick up an East of England award this year with the winners from all seven categories coming from Norfolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The project of the year went to the North West Cambridge Development for the University of Cambridge.