The award winning Utopia Building

An ultra-modern office building in the grounds of a Yorkshire Dales stately home has won a major national award in recognition of its "green" potential.

The Utopia Building, in what used to be the walled kitchen garden at 18th Century Broughton Hall, Skipton, won one of the top awards for its use of environmentally friendly materials in the Civic Trust awards, amongst England's most prestigious prizes for architecture, which were presented at the Blackpool Winters Gardens yesterday (March 20).

The prize was given to projects that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment.

Utopia is the latest in a series of buildings which have achieved national recognition for the Broughton Business Park created in former estate buildings like stables and workshops by the Tempest family, who have lived at Broughton since the 12th Century.