The Stephenson Building at Newcastle University took home the ultimate accolade of “Project of the Year” at the RICS Awards Grand Ceremony in London
The annual RICS Awards event was held at the Hilton Park Lane, London on Thursday 16th October. Alongside project categories, the winners of the special category awards for infrastructure and environmental impact, as well as the team awards for outstanding contributions to surveying for SMEs and large firms were announced.
The winners of the Ambassador of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award were revealed at the ceremony too.
Julian Lyon took home the Lifetime Achievement Award
Julian’s surveying career spans 42 years. He is currently a senior director at Savills where he leads EMEA Occupier Strategy Advisory. He has previously served as chair of the CBI Property Group and chair of the RICS Corporate Occupier Group and given heavily to his local community and built environment as the chairman of the Guildford Local Plan Forum and member of the Guildford Steering Group. Suki Bell FRICS was named Ambassador of the Year.
Commenting on the grand final winners, RICS UK Awards National chair, Kerry Gibbs, said:“It is an honour to judge these awards. We had the pleasure of visiting each of the winning projects, and to meet with the teams behind them, and to see their passion is a truly heartwarming experience. These projects play an integral role in their communities, and wider local economies, and these awards allow us to recognise and celebrate the success of the surveyors across the UK delivering them.
“The teams and individuals behind these projects should be very proud of their successes, a huge congratulations to all of the winners.”
The Newcastle student hub project won two awards
Located at the heart of the Newcastle University campus, the re-developed building spans 198,000 square feet and features research spaces, a student-run maker space and both specialist and multi-purpose education spaces along with technical workshops and support.
With a focus on digital manufacturing, sustainable propulsion and biomedical engineering, the hub is now a beacon for world leading education, research and collaboration.
The project won the Refurbishment/Revitalisation award, as well as being named overall Project of the Year.
The RICS UK Awards showcase the most inspirational initiatives and developments in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, recognising outstanding achievement, teamwork and companies.
Category winners ranged from Shankill Shared Women’s Centre in Belfast to the Natural History Museum in London, Rochdale Town Hall, and Parkhead Health and Social Care and Community Hub in Glasgow.
Commenting on the Project of the Year, The Stephenson Building, the judges said:
“The project sought to reinvigorate the existing outdated and inefficient 1950s engineering block with a future-proofed refurbishment and a dramatic extension, expanding the floor area to house seven engineering disciplines.
“The new vibrant atrium is central to highly functional study, workshop and collaboration spaces, letting in natural light and visibility across floors, reflecting the open and cross-disciplinary nature of the faculty.
“The welcoming, bright and well-designed accommodation has attracted a marked increase in female students, generated more research funding and led to best practice sharing amongst universities.
“That this complex development was built on time and within budget to evident high quality, is testament to the project leadership.
“The Stephenson Building excelled against every judging criteria, resulting in a stunning world class engineering facility for teaching, research and industry partnerships.
“The transformative highly sustainable refurbishment and revitalisation of the faculty is well deserving of Project of the Year.”
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