On 11th November at the SCALA Dinner and Civic Building of the Year Awards, NPS received the Sustainability Category Award for Bideford College, a really successful and significant project for the Group. This is now the sixth award it has received.
The £45m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) One School Pathfinder scheme for 1800 students aged 11-18 is the greatest single investment in the Bideford area. The facilities, which include a six badminton court sports hall, dance and drama studios, theatre / cinema and all weather sports areas, are available outside school hours for community use. It has provided a unique opportunity to raise aspirations and change perceptions locally.
NPS Architectural Director Arthur Tatchell and technical team members Steven Western and John Baggley collected the award, along with the client Mike Newby and constructor colleagues from Morgan Sindall: Chris Spear, Dave Pearce, and Martin Kennedy.
Since 2003, the Society of Chief Architects of Local Authorities (SCALA) has made an annual award to the client and designers of the best building entered for the Civic Building of the Year Award, which is now the most prestigious building design award in the public sector. This year there were 112 entries with 10 shortlisted — the highest standard so far in this competition since it started. Each project is awarded points for various elements of the design and construction, on a similar basis to the CIC Design Quality Indicator system. As well as an overall winner, awards are also made in various categories in recognition and encouragement of expertise in these specific areas.
This is the ninth year that SCALA has staged the awards, and the sixth that NPS has been involved as sponsor. Mike Britch, Managing Director of the NPS Group, presented the awards, which were held at the Leeds Marriott Hotel.
Further details about all projects entered can be found at www.publicarchitecture.co.uk.
