ARCHITECTURE: Desmond Guinness and the newly restored Palm House in Dublin were among the winners of this year's Europa Nostra Cultural Heritage prizes.
The award ceremony, presided over by Queen Sofia of Spain, was held in the 17th century Pardo Palace - a former royal hunting lodge and one-time residence of Gen Franco - on the outskirts of Madrid.
Mr Guinness received his gold medal for "50 years of unrelenting voluntary efforts in favour of Ireland's architectural heritage". The committee particularly noted the work of the Irish Georgian Society, founded by Mr Guinness and his late wife Mariga in 1958, as well as his fundraising and educational projects.
The restoration of the Palm House glasshouse in the Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin, was a gold medal winner in the architectural heritage category. The architect, Ciarán O'Connor, received his medal from the queen on behalf of the Office of Public Works. The citation praised "the faithful restoration of a unique prefabricated 19th century glasshouse".
Mr O'Connor said the structure had been badly affected by 120 years of rot and corrosion caused by neglect, and high humidity levels in the cool outside air and the hot tropical climate inside the building.
He said they had been fortunate to trace the original plans and drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which permitted them to restore the building to its original glory by combining traditional methods with sophisticated 21st century techniques.
The European Union prizes for cultural heritage were founded in 2002 to provide what Jan Figel, of the European Commission, described as "a soul for Europe". He said: "Too much stress is placed on the economy and the institutions. The time has come to redress the balance and devote more to our culture - to give Europe a soul."
This year there were 29 winners in the three categories and four subdivisions, ranging from architectural heritage, cultural landscapes to heritage conservation. The winner in each category receives a monetary prize of €10,000, with gold medals and diplomas for the runners-up.
The panel of judges received 214 entries from 34 countries. They particularly welcomed the increasing number of entries from Eastern European members.
Dublin architect Philip Geoghegan, vice chairman of the architectural heritage category, said it had been difficult to choose the winners. Not only, he said, because of the high standard of the entries, but because of the wide range of the different candidates.
Before deciding, they had to study the detailed dossiers of each project, some of them several inches thick, and later visit the many and varied sites. The first prize in the architectural heritage class went to the 16th-century Omeriye Ottoman Baths in Cyprus for the restoration of an Islamic artistic jewel.
Other winners included Tallinn Town Hall in Estonia and the Scala Opera House in Milan.