The multi-million-pound restoration of a Grade II* listed church at a former naval dockyard has scooped another major award.

Sheerness Dockyard Church, on Sheppey, has been named Building of the Year at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South East Awards tonight (May 14).

The jury praised how the project was “exquisitely restored and transformed into a community facility”.

It also said it showed that “imagination and skills to do more than just validate their client’s belief that a historic building in an extreme state of decay can have a very good future.”

The building, which dates from 1828, has been transformed into a co-working space and business hub after it was damaged in a fire in May 2001.

It reopened in June 2023 under the name IslandWorks for young entrepreneurs to grow their firms.

The £9.5 million restoration, which was in the works for eight years, was carried out by the Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust (SDPT).

After the Naval Dockyard closed in 1960, the church continued as a place of worship until the early 1970s, when it was then used as a sports club.

It was empty at the time of the 2001 fire and lay derelict for the next two decades.

The site was acquired by Swale council in 2016 through a compulsory purchase, and ownership was later transferred to the SDPT.

Last year, the former church was also named UK Project of the Year by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Presented since 1966, the RIBA Awards set the standard for great architecture across the country.

Other buildings to pick up accolades included the new arts and performance centre, Brighton Dome Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre, and Bury Gate Farm in the South Downs, a low-carbon, modern home.

Speaking of the winners, the jury chairwoman Lisa Shell said: “Of this year’s winning projects in England’s south-east, the majority involve the inventive re-use and conservation of existing structures, representing a heartening direction in sustainable development within a region typically celebrated for new houses.

“The jury was shown how the architects’ imagination can transform existing houses into homes of unique and enduring character or magic a much-needed community asset from the ruins of a burned-out church.

“The winning one-off houses continue to demonstrate the architects’ ingenuity in the handling of structure and materials and high levels of skill in response to extraordinary contexts.”

The south east winners will now be considered for a RIBA National Award, which will be announced on July 10.