RSAW - Hafod Copper Works Winner
GWP Architecture Celebrates Double Win at 2025 RSAW (RIBA) Welsh Architecture Awards
We are proud to announce that the Hafod Morfa Copperworks Distillery and Visitor Centre has been awarded both the 2025 RSAW (RIBA) Welsh Architecture Award and the 2025 RSAW (RIBA) Conservation Award.
Designed in collaboration with Archer Humphryes Architects (fit out), this landmark project in Landore represents a significant transformation of one of Swansea’s most important industrial heritage sites. Once derelict, the site has been brought back to life through careful conservation and adaptive reuse, celebrating its rich copper-working legacy while introducing a vibrant new distillery and visitor experience for Penderyn Whisky.
At GWP Architecture, we are particularly honoured that the RSAW recognised the project’s strong sustainability credentials, its commitment to using local materials and skills, and its meaningful contribution to the local community. As RSAW jury chair Ian Chalk noted, “Sustainability was at the heart of every winning project in our 2025 awards… The result is spaces made by and for the communities that they serve.”
The project was commissioned by Swansea Council in partnership with Penderyn Whisky and delivered with the support of key collaborators including John Weaver Contractors, Stantec, TC Consult, Swansea University, and the Friends of Hafod Morfa Copperworks. We are also grateful to the principal funders, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Welsh Government, for their commitment to preserving and reimagining Wales' built heritage.
Winners were announced on May 22, 2025, and the project now goes forward to be considered for a prestigious RIBA National Award.
This recognition is a testament to the collaborative spirit behind the project and the power of architecture to connect past and future.