Major Project of the Year

Sponsored by Lochinvar

Winner

Faber Maunsell

BBC Broadcasting House

Broadcasting House in London was completed nearly 80 years ago. Since then, advances in broadcast technology had made much of the building obsolete. When the BBC decided to redevelop, the challenge for Faber Maunsell was to futureproof the building services and specialist services while preserving the integrity of the iconic, listed property. The key was understanding the many technical facilities – more diverse than assembled in one building ever before, plus painstaking work on finding solutions for the massive refurbishment project.

The judges agreed that Faber Maunsell had succeeded in tackling this hugely techical refurb and new-build project, designed to operate 24/7 without interruption of supply, for a multi-faceted client.

Runners-up

Jacobs (highly commended)

Scottish and Oceanic Area Control Centre, Prestwick

The centre, which will control 70% of UK airspace, was delivered early and under budget. The M&E was awarded to Jacobs after a five-month concept design competition, during which it demonstrated outstanding innovation and design flair underpinned by robust engineering design principles. The judges were impressed that the M&E solutions, delivered in collaboration with fire engineers, surpassed the client’s strict budgetary expectations.

Hoare Lea

Golden Square shopping centre, Warrington

The retail heart of Warrington for a quarter of a century has been elevated to one of the top destinations in the north west. The £120m scheme doubled the retail space, providing 60 new shops, 1,700 extra parking spaces and a new bus terminal. Hoare Lea acted as mechanical and consulting engineer, providing additional specialist virtual engineering, lighting, fire and vertical transportation advice.

Hurleypalmerflatt

Investment bank, London

The £60m project, which involved turning an office floor into a trading floor, was the most complex undertaken by Hurleypalmerflatt. It produced the largest in-desk cooling trading system in the UK, and is the only UK trading floor to be fitted with chilled water desks. Despite the complexity of the brief, which required no relocation of staff, the project was completed three months ahead of schedule.

WSP

Beetham Tower, Manchester

The development of the Beetham Tower gave WSP the opportunity to be part of an iconic landmark on the city’s central thoroughfare of Deansgate. The key, active sustainable feature of the design is the combined heat and power plant. Rejected heat is thermally stored and used to heat the hotel and residential areas, with the CHP unit acting as a lead boiler. This has produced considerable cost and space saving with much improved energy efficiency. Natural ventilation of the winter garden on the south face eliminates the need for additional plant for comfort cooling to the apartments.