MALVERN-based contractor Speller Metcalfe has won a top award for its heritage work.

The company on Enigma Business Park in Maple Road picked up the heritage award at the Celebrating Construction West Midlands Awards before more than 600 leaders and innovators from across the construction sector at the ICC in Birmingham. Speller Metcalfe was actually a finalist in four categories and picked up the Heritage award for the restoration of the Master’s House in Ledbury.

Joint managing director Steve Speller said: "This award represents the project team’s hard work and commitment to the restoration of a historic building which means so much to the local community. Due to the complex nature of the building and the widely-varying nature of historical extensions and building works, it is without doubt the project team’s specialist knowledge and collaborative efforts which have led to such a successful outcome.”

In 2013, Speller Metcalfe was contracted by Herefordshire Council under the West Midlands Contractor Framework to deliver a highly detailed restoration of the 15th century Master’s House, which had been extended and altered typically every 70-80 years since its original construction in 1486.

Works included stripping the premises back to its original structure, reconstructing the roof and an extremely high quality restoration of the timber frame.

The result was a historically-accurate, one-of-a-kind building in the heart of Ledbury for use by Herefordshire Council and the general public. The Grade II listed building is now home to a new library, council offices and the John Masefield archive, and provides a community and cultural hub for the people of Ledbury.