Nyth

by Manalo and White

Client Frân Wen

Awards RSAW Welsh Architecture Award 2025, RSAW Welsh Architecture Client of the Year (sponsored by Equitone), RSAW Welsh Architecture Project Architect of the Year 2025, RSAW Welsh Architecture Sustainability Award (sponsored by Autodesk), and RSAW Welsh Architecture Building of the Year (sponsored by EH Smith)

NythKristina BanholzerWEBIMAGE7jpg — Nyth © Kristina Banholzer

The award winner tells us, "With a focus on supporting young people to take part in the arts, Frân Wen works to create exciting Welsh language theatre. They had outgrown their previous building in Bangor and was seeking a new home.

Nyth was a redundant Grade II listed church which was falling into disrepair and offered in its place a state-of-the-art theatre; making space for young people and creating a new beating heart of the community. The bold expansion of a disused undercroft brought a level access to the newly formed main foyer while minimising alteration to the exterior and compartmentation of the main nave space.

Frân Wen’s live theatre show ‘Olion’, performed shortly after opening, ended with a promenade of 100 community actors and an audience of over 400 strolling through Bangor and arriving at Nyth. The event encapsulated Nyth’s ability to accommodate scriptwriting, stage set making, rehearsals, dressing, and community performance all under one roof."

The jury says, "Nyth (Welsh for ‘Nest’) is a new, fully inclusive and highly sustainable community arts venue within a former church in Bangor, North Wales. The original stone outer walls, columns and timber roof were retained, with most of the new steel and concrete structure laced through and around the retained fabric. The existing church structure and layout remains entirely legible, allowing the new works to be demountable if wished. Discoveries are repurposed; organ pipes become wall linings. Christian iconography has been retained – respectfully screened or distorted – rather than removed, helping to break down perceptions and invite a broader demographic into this building typology."

Read the full citation from the RIBA Awards Jury on RIBA Journal

Contractor Grosvenor Constructions

Environmental / M&E engineer Create + Collaborate

Theatre consultant Plann

Structural engineer engineer HRW

Quantity surveyor / Cost consultant Pulse Consult

Project management SP Projects

Acoustic engineer CSG Acoustics

Access consultant Access Included

Landscape architect Tirlun Barr Associates

Sustainability Encon Associates

Heritage consultant Dave Jump