Project of the year crown for landmark power facility
MORE than 45 of Yorkshire and Humber’s most impressive property schemes battled it out for top honours at the 2016 RICS Yorkshire & Humber Awards, where a landmark power plant in Sheffield was crowned project of the year.
The annual contest celebrates inspirational initiatives in the region’s land, property and construction sectors.
The project of the year title went to Blackburn Meadows Biomass plant in Sheffield, which also won the infrastructure award.
The innovative power facility – delivered by BDP (Building Design Partnership) and E.ON UK – generates energy by converting locally sourced waste wood into electricity, powering around 40,000 homes and displacing the emissions of around 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. This is the equivalent of taking more than 20,000 cars off our roads each year. Waste heat is also used to heat homes across the district.
The winners of all eight individual categories were:
• Building Conservation – Leeds City College Print Works: Printhall 1B, Leeds
• Commercial property – 6 Wellington Place, Leeds
• Community Benefit – St Peter’s Church, Harrogate
• Design through Innovation – The Diamond, Sheffield
• Infrastructure – Blackburn Meadows Biomass, Sheffield
• Regeneration – The Hawthornes @ Amy Johnson, Hull
• Residential property – Little Kelham, Sheffield
• Tourism & Leisure – Talbot Yard Food Court, Malton
Chairman of the judging panel for the RICS Yorkshire & Humber Awards, Rob Hindle of White Hindle & Partners, said: “Often Infrastructure projects are hidden away, but this unique facility not only offers cutting edge technology to power and heat the local community, it is illuminated from within, creating an attractive landmark beacon at night, which serves as a clear welcome to Sheffield. It has also created local employment and significantly contributed to Yorkshire and Humber’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making it fully deserving of the Project of the Year title.”
A number of highly commended accolades were also awarded by the judges to projects which impressed but were just pipped to the post by the winners.
These were:
Building Conservation – The Coach House at Middleton Lodge, Richmond
Community Benefit – Castleford Bus Station, Castleford
Design through Innovation – Laidlaw Library, Leeds
Infrastructure – Water End Flood Alleviation Scheme, York
Regeneration – Oasis Academy Don Valley, Sheffield
Residential – Askham Park, York
Tourism & Leisure – Huddersfield Leisure Centre, Huddersfield
Mr Hindle added: “We were impressed with the remarkable caliber of entries this year. The winners and the highly commended are truly exemplary and the teams behind them should be immensely proud of themselves for demonstrating excellence in collaboration and ensuring our region remains a fantastic place to live, work, study and visit.”
All category winners will go on to compete against other regional winners at the national RICS Awards grand final in October in London, for the chance to be crowned the overall UK winner in their respective category.
