RICS announce shortlist for 2008 awards

The RICS has announced the shortlist for the 2008 awards.

Competitors range from large projects such as St Pancras Station in London, Seewurfel in Zurich, Fort Dunlop in the West Midlands, to smaller buildings such as Inverness District Office in Scotland and the Expressive Arts Building in Yorkshire.

The shortlisted entries now compete to become overall category winners in building conservation, regeneration, sustainability and community benefit. One shortlisted entry will win the top prize of Project of the Year, presented to any entry that is judged to have excelled in any or all of the main categories.

The regional heats provided stiff competition for all entries, with 54 projects now through to the international awards final.

Simon Pott, chairman of the judging panel, said: "The response has been excellent this year. The shortlist highlights the exceptional standard of work being done today to enhance and preserve the global built and natural environments.

"The property professionals involved are vital in linking people, places and property, making the best use of limited resources, all contributing to the wider environment and community. The shortlist contains a magnificent range of exciting projects which are a credit to the skilled teams involved."

The winners will be announced on 17 October.

RICS Awards 2008: Full Shortlist

Building Conservation
Project name: Beeleigh Abbey - Region: East - Details: The repair and restoration of Beeleigh Abbey, and its sympathetic up-grading as a comfortable family home.
Project name: St Mary’s Guidhall: Region: East Midlands - Details: A 600 year old Grade I listed building that has undergone a major programme of repair and refurbishment. Due to re-open at Easter 2008 as a visitor attraction.
Project name: Fulham Palace Restoration Project - Region: London - Details: External repair and internal refurbishment of Fulham Palace.
Project name: Live Theatre - Region: North East - Details: A multi-million pound redevelopment of the existing Arts venue, including the expansion of the theatre into the adjacent building, the Grade II listed Maritime Museum to provide additional theatre space, rehearsal rooms, administrative offices, and a new upmarket bistro-style café
Project name: Dalton Hall Business Centre - Region: North West - Details: Regeneration of former model farm buildings into a successful rural business centre.
Project name: Bagenal’s Castle - Region: Northern Ireland - Details: The project involves the renovation and restoration of a 16th Century castle, also a Scheduled Monument, and a 19th Century warehouse. The buildings are now used by Newry and Mourne District Council to house their museum, exhibitions spaces, tourist information centre, staff and cafe.
Project name: Kelvingrove New Century Project - Region: Scotland - Details: Kelvingrove New Century Project is the major building conservation and reinstatement of the Category A-listed building, the fourth best attended museum in the UK, including a total new strategy for the redisplay of one of Europe's greatest Civic Collections.
Project name: Tudor Cowdray House Ruin at Midhurst - Region: South East - Details: Major conservation repair of Tudor ruin, previously on English Heritage at risk register. The site is a scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building. New public access has been created for the benefit of the community and nation.
Project name: Clerks Cottage - Region: South West - Details: Rescue of a Grade II* listed Medieval House from complete dereliction through owner's own personal efforts over a 9 year project, to the highest conservation standards and using traditional local materials, to create a family home.
Project name: Nant Clwyd House - Region: Wales - Details: Restoration of timber framed town house with early 15th Century origins, including overhaul and repair of frame, renewal of infill panels, roof repairs, renewal of floors and internal finishes, reinstatement of ceilings and improvements to provide less disabled access.
Project name: St Teilo’s Church - Region: Wales - Details: Rescue of a Grade II* listed Medieval House from complete dereliction through owner's own personal efforts over a 9 year project, to the highest conservation standards and using traditional local materials, to create a family home.
Project name: Town Hall, Birmingham - Region: West Midlands - Details: Works of refurbishment and re-ordering to the interior spaces of the town hall to enable it to meet the demands of 21st Century use.
Project name: Wentworth Castle Gardens and Stainborough Park - Region: Yorkshire - Details: Major £15.6m landscape and building restoration project to recover the only Grade I listed park and garden in South Yorkshire from almost complete collapse, opening it to the public for the first time. Project delivered on time and to budget, including restoration of garden/park; re-roof of Grade I mansion; creation of visitor, community and educational facilities; monuments repair and restoration of woodland.

Community Benefit
Project name: Norwich Theatre Royal Redevelopment - Region: East - Details: This project involved a major redevelopment of an important regional theatre. The street elevation and front of house areas were completely remodelled to provide greatly improved audience facilities. The 1300 seat auditorium was refurbished and modernised. The work has opened up the building to the community and dramatically improved its relationship with the local area.
Project name: Madani High School - Region: East Midlands - Details: Madani High School is a new voluntary aided school for 600 pupils. The school has been founded by members of the Muslim community and is intended to make a positive contribution to cohesion and local social, educational and cultural projects.
Project name: Horizons Centre - Region: London - Details: Refurbishment and redevelopment of semi-derelict former depot buildings to provide centre to offer support, education and training to young people leaving council care.
Project name: Aspen Gardens - Region: North East - Details: Aspen Gardens is an extra care scheme providing 30 apartments and 20 bungalows with a variety of communal facilities including a hair salon, gym, shop, bistro restaurant and lounges. The scheme is part of the regeneration at Hardwick and is being used as the flagship scheme for future projects.
Project name: The Gateway - Region: North West - Details: Refurbishment and conversion of an existing group of buildings for voluntary and charitable agencies providing a joint 'first stop shop' giving access to advice, services and opportunities with shared social, educational and administrative resources.
Project name: Belfast Grand Opera House Act II - Region: Northern Ireland - Details: Extension to the Grade B listed, Belfast Grand Opera House – the first building to be listed in Northern Ireland. The new extension has provided not only new foyer space and improved front-of-house facilities, but also a studio theatre performance space that has created new revenue opportunities for the venue.
Project name: Eden Court Theatre + Cinema - Region: Scotland - Details: Refurbishment of existing Grade A listed buildings to provide enhanced public access, new offices and front of house facilities, plus a substantial new extension to provide 270 seat theatre, 2 cinemas, 2 dance/drama studios, and new dressing rooms/back of house facilities.
Project name: Everest Community College - Region: South East - Details: Replacement secondary school incorporating substantial community facilities within a Landmark Building that is a complementary element of the sustainable urban extension are Merton Rise, Basingstoke.
Project name: Boscombe Library and Chapter House - Region: South West - Details: The new Boscombe Library and 24 affordable flats have recently been completed as a result of a very successful partnership between East Dorset Housing Association (a member of Synergy) and Bournemouth Borough Council.
Project name: The Metropole Cultural and Conference Centre - Region: Wales - Details: The project is the refurbishment and alteration of a 100 year old theatre and market hall.
Project name: The Priory Family Centre - Region: West Midlands - Details: Redevelopment of the former Priory Primary School site, to create a fully integrated family centre that provides a shared vision for education, health and leisure, for the benefit of the local community.
Project name: Expressive Arts Building - Region: Yorkshire - Details: A single storey expressive arts and multi-functional building for use by the local community.

Regeneration
Project name: Optus relocation to Macquarie Park - Region: Australia - Details: Redevelopment of a 76,000sqm industrial site to create Australia's largest ever single tenant corporate HQ Campus on behalf of Optus. The campus is some 84,000sqm of NLA, with retail, gym and childcare facilities on site.
Project name: Seewurfel - Region: Zurich, Switzerland - Detail: Seewurfel is an excellent example how a formerly industrial are has been regenerated. The site has been transformed into a new attractive centre for working and living and integrates itself harmoniously into the existing historic fabric of the area. The eight new apartment and office buildings are situated close to the town centre of Zurich and offer stunning views of the lake and surrounding cityscape. Each cube is a different shape and size, and each contains both open office floors and open apartment floors, but the different uses are unified and subsumed into a holistic architecture and landscape statement.
Project name: St Pancras International Station - Region: London - Details: St Pancras International station has been successfully refurbished and extended as part of the High Speed 1 project - Britain's first high speed railway in over 100 years. The £800m transformation has already had an impact on the surrounding areas and is underpinning further regeneration.
Project name: RSPB Environment and Education Centre - Region: East - Details: The Environment and Education Centre is within the Purfleet regeneration zone, a priority area for Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation. As well as helping enhance the area's environment, the project is also contributing to improving the quality of life and providing leisure and educational opportunities for both locals and those further afield.
Project name: Westfield Derby - Region: East Midlands - Details: In town retail scheme and Victoria Chambers.
Project name: The O2 Arena - Region: London - Details: The O2 Arena as a custom designed facility responds to the demands of all user groups and represents the future of arena design. The arena provides flexibility of operation alongside spectacular comfort.
Project name: Sunniside Gardens - Region: North East - Details: Regeneration of inner city open space to provide a focal point for recreation in the area.
Project name: The Royal - Region: North West - Details: The scheme consists of eight shop units and sixteen apartments of which seven are designated affordable housing and nine for sale with local occupancy restrictions. Enabling works included the demolition of the former Royal Hotel and the excavation and removal of over 10,000 tonnes of rock and overlying material.
Project name: Strule Arts/ Riverside Regeneration Centre - Region: Northern Ireland - Details: A new 4000m² arts facility with auditorium, lecture theatre, and associated facilities.
Project name: Quartermile - Region: Scotland - Details: Quartermile is the £450m redevelopment of the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site, and one of the UK's largest regeneration projects.
Project name: New England Quarter - Region: South East - Details: Redevelopment of 9 hectares of semi derelict land adjacent to Brighton Railway Station. Mixed use scheme comprising two hotels, supermarket, community facilities, retail unit shops, offices and a minimum of 355 house/apartments (30% social).
Project name: Great Bow Wharf - Region: South West - Details: Having stood derelict for over a decade, the Grade II listed warehouse in Langport was re-opened by Ecos Homes and the Langport Area Development Trust.
Project name: Blackwood Interchange - Region: Wales - Details: This project combined civil engineering and building construction works to replace an existing deficient bus station with a new bus station terminus building on the same site. It has radically improved vehicle circulation and pedestrian access to encourage greater use of public transport.
Project name: Fort Dunlop - Region: West Midlands - Details: Fort Dunlop stood empty and lonely for 25 years. In 2004, Urban Splash, with architects, shedkm, converted it into 234,000sqft of offices, retail and leisure space and a 100 bed Hotel. It's now a 24 hour destination for business and enterprise - a Birmingham icon reborn.
Project name: The Fairfield Site - Region: West Midlands - Details: A successful regeneration of a previously run down area of Worcester to produce a new school, health centre, community play facilities, plus private and affordable housing.
Project name: St Stephen’s - Region: Yorkshire - Details: Hull's flagship £200m St Stephen's retail-led scheme opened on schedule in September 2007. It has transformed the city centre, providing new retail, leisure, cultural and transport services.

Sustainability
Project name: Merck Serono - Region: Geneva, Switzerland - Details: Relocation of Serono's administrative, research, and development departments from various offices.
Project name: Kingspan Lighthouse - Region: East - Details: Design and construction of a zero carbon Level 6 Code for Sustainable Homes house built at BRE, Watford.
Project name: Heart of the National Forest Youth Hostel - Region: East Midlands - Details: A new youth hostel in the National Forest incorporating an exemplar sustainable design.
Project name: Larmenier and Scared Heart Primary School - Region: London - Details: Larmenier is a shining example of sustainable design used effectively to reduce carbon emission and to raise awareness of sustainability in the minds of young people and their community. It utilises and displays a range of environmentally-friendly design solutions: a sedum-covered roof, photovoltaic panels, natural light and ventilation throughout, and a range of energy saving installations.
Project name: Northumbria University Campus East - Region: North East - Details: Northumbria University's new City Campus East Development comprising two buildings to house the Schools of Law, Business and Design. The buildings provide 24,000 m2 of new teaching, office and support facilities set in highly landscaped surroundings.
Project name: Navigation Primary School - Region: North West - Details: New primary school for Trafford Council in Altrincham.
Project name: The Orchard - Region: Northern Ireland - Details: The Orchard Development is situated on a brownfield site within a scenic 18 hectare woodland site rich in wildlife. The building has been designed with sustainability at the forefront.
Project name: Inverness District Office – Forestry Commission Scotland - Region: Scotland - Details: A modern purpose built office to provide a comfortable working environment for staff, whilst incorporating the principles of sustainability and with an emphasis on the use of home grown timber.
Project name: Oxley Woods - Region: South East - Details: Oxley Woods is a three hectare site with 145 dwellings in Milton Keynes, providing a mixture of affordable housing and large private dwellings around a central High Street. Designed as high quality houses for a construction cost of £60,000, and built to a number of quality standards, including 'Eco homes' and 'Building for Life'.
Project name: Great Bow Wharf - Region: South West - Details: Having stood derelict for over a decade, the Grade II listed warehouse in Langport was re-opened by Ecos Homes and the Langport Area Development Trust.
Project name: Skomer Island NNR Building and Infrastructure Development - Region: Wales - Details: Redevelopment of farm complex to provide accommodation for overnight guests, researchers, volunteers and the assistant warden. Replacement of warden accommodation, replacement of one maintained building, including new infrastructure-water system, off grid electricity, etc.
Project name: Innovate Green Office - Region: Yorkshire - Details: Construction of a 45,000 ft² sustainable service office building utilising a concrete pre-cast structure, green roof with rainwater recycling, vacuum drainage, Tri generation CHP with absorption chilling, termodeck natural ventilation, fully integrated BMS management system, over 2 and 3 floors linked with central street atrium. Externals incorporate permeable pavements, managed SUDS system and enhanced landscaping with wildlife habitat. Project achieved an Excellent rating under BREEAM with a score of 87.55% (highest score ever achieved).