AN ARTS and heritage venue in the city has been nominated for a regional architecture award after an extensive refurbishment.

God's House Tower is one of seven projects that has been shortlisted in the RIBA South Regional Awards for 2022.

The 700-year-old monument and former key defensive gateway into Southampton was converted into a "beacon of the city's art scene" between 2016 and 2019.

READ MORE: Inside God's House Tower: What the historical building offers now

Southampton arts organisation ‘a space’ arts became custodians in 2016 and worked with architects and heritage consultants Purcell to transform the historical building as part of a £3.1 million scheme.

Daniel Crow, director of ‘a space’ arts, said: "This nomination for GHT is another validation of the years of detailed work that our partnership with Purcell delivered over the life of the project.

"The scale of the challenge was greater than anything we have previously worked on, and we believe the outcome was absolutely worth the effort.

"The results truly speak for themselves.

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"What is even more gratifying is seeing audiences, visitors, and artists from Southampton and beyond really take GHT to heart, filling the building with life and conversation, and returning each weekend to enjoy everything this unique venue has to offer."

The Grade-I listed building re-opened to the public in September 2019 and now boasts exhibition and event spaces, a cafe, a reading room, and courtyard.