A sustainably-built college campus in Fermanagh has won the UK Project of the Year Title at industry body RICS’s annual awards.
The Erne Campus of South West College beat stiff competition from some of the most outstanding build projects from across the UK in the grand final of the competition which was held at a ceremony in Leicester Square, London on Friday.
Nominated by Belfast-based firm behind the project Hamilton Architects, Erne Campus, which was completed earlier this year, was chosen by the judges as the overall winner based on its sustainability credentials which will see it yielding an anticipated 90% reduction in energy costs for the college.
Accommodating 800 full-time students, 2,000 part-time students and 120 staff, the Campus is one of the world’s most sustainable educational buildings, having secured both PassivHaus Premium and BREEAM Outstanding accreditations, both of which rubber stamp sustainability in the built environment.
The project stretches to 8,000 square metres and comes after investment of £34 million. It has also been recognised as one of 26 UN Centres of Excellence for High Performance Buildings, ranking alongside the Apple 2 campus in California.
It initially won landmark building won the Public Sector project of the year award in Northern Ireland at its regional RICS heat, which led to the project being automatically entered into the national RICS Awards Grand Final.
As well as sustainability, the building also scored highly for social contribution.
“The vision and its subsequent delivery of the replacement led by a chartered surveyor is a fascinating story in itself. Suffice to say that given local, regional, national and international difficulties over the development period it got built as a result of strong, local and later regional support,” the judges said. “More importantly for our awards, it represents an exemplar of how despite many obstacles that it needed to overcome, the project also scores highly in the social value.
“Not only has it generated a centre for excellence for local students of the built environment as a core curriculum subject, it has also raised the profile and the pride in all its inhabitants and neighbours in an area that has suffered much in recent times.”
Meanwhile, the new North West Multi Modal Transport Hub Project Team were named Infrastructure Team of the Year for the Derry transport hub.
The winners of the 10 national RICS Awards are as follows:
Commercial Development Project – Hylo, London
Community Benefit Project – The Wilds, Barking Riverside, London
Environmental Impact Award – St Sidwell’s Point, Exeter
Heritage Project – Seaton Delaval Hall, Whitley Bay
Infrastructure Team of the Year – North West Multi Modal Transport Hub Project Team, Northern Ireland
Outstanding Large Surveying Firm Team - Investors and Insurers Team, Arcadis Lenders
Outstanding Small Surveying Firm/Team - Modus Construction Consultants Ltd
Public Sector Project - Erne Campus, South West College, Northern Ireland
Refurbishment/Revitalisation Project - Buxton Crescent Hotel and Thermal Spa Project, East Midlands
Residential Project - Perry Barr Regeneration Scheme, West Midlands
