The 2009 Award Winners and High Commendations

Winner: Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, Brighton

Built on an extremely tight site in existing hospital grounds. Great ingenuity was needed to create the technically demanding building, which will transform children’s healthcare in Sussex and beyond. “An uplifting project” said the judges. The excellent teamwork was very evident in delivering a highly complex building making good use of limited space. Close involvement of the medical and nursing staff has ensured that the young patients have the best possible environment – one which functions like a hospital but does not feel like a hospital. A great exemplar for PFI. Built on an extremely tight site in existing hospital grounds. Great ingenuity was needed to create the technically demanding building, which will transform children’s healthcare in Sussex and beyond.

Commissioning authority: Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Principal designer: Building Design Partnership
Principal contractor: Kajima Construction
Engineer: Building Design Partnership
Engineer: Shepherd Engineering Services
Contractor: Kajima Construction

• The Hospital was closely involved throughout and very clear about what it wanted.
• The clear brief brought great benefit to the design and construction process.
• Great use of limited space in a difficult site.
• Excellent design from the inside out.
• If you walk round the public areas it could be a hotel not a hospital – an uplifting atmosphere.
• An excellent example of pfi giving the end user more involvement.

Winner: Various

Winner: East Beach Cafe, Littlehampton

• A very passionate and committed client who knew what she wanted and achieved it all.
• Also stacks up as a commercial venture.
• Works on every level from architecture to commercial to contract, budget and time.
• Clever use of materials – rusty metal on a beach looks simple but in fact is complex.
• Excellent workmanship from the specialist welding company.

Winner: Exmouth Dock and Sea Wall

• A neat civil engineering project has facilitated a significant regeneration of the local area.
• The team overcame unexpected issues intelligently and resourcefully.
• Client has got great value for money.
• Challenging working environment with uninterruptible inlet marina adjacent.

Winner: Young Vic

• Completely different and innovative approach to a building which required understanding of, and commitment to, the New Vic ‘get it’ culture
• Incredible value for money.
• Intelligent creation of flexible, uncluttered space which can accept constant change to suit individual needs of the client and their productions.
• In relation to its streetscape the building is cleverly broken up into separate parts to give it appropriate scale.
• A great asset to the local community.

Winner: Newbiggin Bay Coast Protection Scheme

• This project has put the life back into the community, dead on its feet from the demise of its fishing and coal industries.
• Driven by the vision of the client, which continues with planned follow-up projects.
• The first reaction of the Westminster Dredging site manager on arriving at Newbiggin was ‘Cor, what a mess’. The transformation has been amazing.
• The beach replacement looks straightforward, but was very high risk.
• This project is what civil engineering is all about: doing the job required but also benefiting the community.

Winner: Castleford Footbridge

• This project engaged and empowered local community involvement, inspiring a sense of local pride.
• £100k of seedcorn has levered more than £200m investment in the regeneration of Castleford.
• An informed client working with an architect/engineer and contractor shows how quality can be delivered with a true design and build partnership.
• A good amalgam of architectural and engineering design.
• It’s made the river central to the town. The town is now beginning to face the river, rather than turning its back on it, making the river a destination.

Winner: St Pancras International Station

• Great process leading to a great product.
• Brilliant use of an old building.
• Masterful planning and creative use of space.
• Shows how beautiful a utilitarian building can be.
• A project to rival anything in Europe.
• Totally cohesive team effort.
• A highly impressive arrival point for European visitors.
• How could we ask the construction industry to deliver more?

Winner: Heathrow Terminal 5

• Innovative process would not in itself have been enough had it not resulted in such a satisfactory building.
• All team members were empowered to be creative.
• Building is easy to read and navigate and makes wonderful use of natural light.
• Engineering of the steel structure becomes an architectural focus.
• Intelligent use of colour to assist navigation. Excellent experience for passengers and a great building.
• Creative thought given to the external space which is very welcome in an airport building.

Winner: Aston Martin Design Studio, Gaydon

• Incredible value for money.
• From concept to occupation in just 12 months – an extraordinary achievement.
• A superb facility meeting all the very specific needs of Aston Martin’s car design team.
• Aston Martin’s scrupulous design ethic pervades the building.
• Key relationships between the client, the design team and the contractor were essential in achieving the goals.
• Aston Martin wanted top quality in their buildings to reflect the top quality of their cars and achieved it.
• Great use of offsite manufacture providing a highly sustainable building.

Winner: Barking Learning Centre

• Has delivered a learning centre, library, art gallery and local authority services 'one-stop shop' - a real asset to the community • Resources were clearly spent in the right places.
• Great care and attention to detail.
• Real feeling of quality about the housing element.
• A naturally ventilated building that works.
• A very forward thinking project.

Winner: St Marylebone CE School, Performing Arts Centre

• Very clever use of a highly restricted site.
• Robust style of architecture which works well.
• A fun building enjoyed by staff and pupils alike.
• Extremely high quality concrete finishes.
• Great involvement from the headmaster and heads of department from concept to completion.

Winner: Sheffield Inner Relief Road

• The team worked well to address varied and challenging problems throughout the project.
• A hands-on local authority client who understood the key requirements for the scheme and developed an early-contractor involvement, with the authority providing in-house design.
• The positive impacts of the project – particularly regeneration of this area on the edge of the city centre, and removal of traffic from the city centre – are evident all around.
• There was an impressively high proportion of local sourcing.
• This was innovative procurement that broke new ground for a public authority.

Winner: Royal Festival Hall, London

• A brilliant opening up of all the spaces, correcting all the faults of the original building.
• Major regeneration influence on the whole of the South Bank, opening up the space down to the river.
• An astonishing achievement of scale in just two years.
• The whole transformation was reconstructed within the original envelope.
• Technically, spatially and acoustically it is an extremely complex project that has transformed an internally tired building.

Winner: Royal Hall, Harrogate

• The excellent teamwork on this project was very evident - and it was tested quite a few times.
• The deferred budget was most unusual, and very well managed.
• There were no losers on this project: all the stakeholders were winners!
• This is truly a community facility. They have taken a near-derelict building, restored it to its former glory, and delivered it back to the community complete with modern facilities. That’s very impressive!
• At every level, they went out of their way to secure not just the right firms, but also the right people for this job.
• A very commendable project.

Winner: Cleveleys Coast Protection Scheme

• Procurement method was spot on, with contractor involvement from the very start.
• The Local Authority took a brave decision to award the contract without a firm target price.
• Contractors brought great value to the scheme and its success – delivered over 40 weeks ahead of schedule.
• The quality, consistency and appearance of the large areas of concrete is outstanding.
• All round a thoroughly excellent project from start to finish, delivering not only robust sea defences but also model procedures and the regeneration of a totally run down area.
• A 'real' seaside project, which the public are seeing as fun as well as functional.
• The best face of heavy engineering.

Winner: DLR Langdon Park, London

• A real community asset.
• 'Continental' feel in a part of London you would not expect to find it.
• Quality of delivery was outstanding.
• Station is open and visible from every approach giving a feeling of personal security.
• Evidence all around of the project’s success in stimulating regeneration.

Winner: Manchester Civil Justice Centre

• A great deal of thought has gone into the entire process resulting in a highly impressive and highly functional building.
• Calm, open environment contrasting strongly with the conventional aura of a Court building.
• Effective natural ventilation to the top of a 13 storey building is a spectacular feat to achieve.
• A model of public procurement at its best.
• Very clever use of a restricted site.

Winner: Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel, Kuala Lumpur

Winner: Kensington Oval Cricket Ground, Barbados