The Camellia House at Wentworth Woodhouse was crowned a winner of the ‘Conservation and Adaptive Reuse’ category at the Europa Nostra Awards ceremony —the only project from the UK to receive an award.
For over 40 years, Europa Nostra has celebrated and promoted best practices in the heritage field across Europe. DIA chief executive Dorian Proudfoot, alongside Sarah McLeod, CEO of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and project manger David Trevis-Smith of DTS Solutions attended the ceremony in Brussels to accept the award.
Dorian Proudfoot, DIA Chief Executive, said: “It was an honour to attend the Europa Nostra awards ceremony in Brussels. The award for the Camellia House is recognition of the efforts of the whole project team to transform the site into a space that not only protects the rare camellias but is open to everyone. It was inspirational to learn more about the other winning projects, and each serve as a great reminder of the vast range of activities and efforts across the world to promote the benefits of our tangible, and intangible, heritage in shaping our future.”
The Camellia House at Wentworth Woodhouse—sat derelict for five decades—was listed on Historic England’s ‘Buildings at Risk’ register. The Grade II*-listed Georgian building thought to house some of the rarest camellias in the Western world, is now open to the public, having transformed from a heritage-at-risk to a tearoom for all.
Built in 1738 as a teahouse for the first Marchioness of Rockingham, by the 20th century it had been forgotten and the rare camellias abandoned. DIA led a £5m transformation of the site into a contemporary tearoom and multipurpose venue, providing a climate that protects the internationally important camellias.
The regeneration of The Camellia House has taken place as part of ongoing work to preserve and reimagine the wider Wentworth estate as a catalyst for positive change in South Yorkshire. 22 local jobs were created upon opening and every Monday the site is reserved exclusively for community use. The site is universally accessible, with step-free access throughout, an accessible WC, five disabled parking bays and a Changing Places facility—installed in collaboration with Muscular Dystrophy UK—one of the first for a heritage site in the UK. Since opening in April 2024, it has hosted over 8,800 visitors.