Kingspan Lighthouse in Watford, Hertfordshire has scooped a top accolade at the RICS East of England Awards 2008.

During a glittering ceremony last night at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, the two-bedroom lighthouse, was awarded the RICS East of England Sustainability Award.

The lighthouse design has achieved Level Six of the Code for Sustainable Homes and the government has recognised it as the first official zero-carbon home.  The scheme was created to encourage developers to build these types of properties and buyers to take an interest in them.

Alan Shingler, partner of Sheppard Robson, which designed the building, said: "We are delighted that the RICS have recognised our Lighthouse project. A key objective in designing the Lighthouse was to demonstrate to the industry that the Code for Sustainable Homes, Level Six, can be achieved without compromising on design or lifestyle.”

Now in their 18th year, the RICS Awards celebrate and recognise exemplary projects across four award categories - building conservation, regeneration, sustainability, and community benefit.

The Theatre Royal in Norwich was crowned the overall ‘Project of the Year’ award winner at the RICS East of England Awards 2008 and also scooped the Community Benefit Award. The major redevelopment, of one of the region’s leading theatres in the heart of Norwich, Norfolk, fought off stiff competition to take the ‘Project of the Year’ prize at the glittering ceremony at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire.

Tim Foster, partner of Tim Foster Architects which designed the redevelopment of the theatre, said: “We are delighted that the remodelling of the Theatre Royal Norwich has been recognised by this award. The facilities and appearance of this very successful theatre have been transformed on a remarkably modest budget. It can now stand proud as the premier theatre in the region”.

The evening’s other top award winners were:

• Beeleigh Abbey, near Maldon, Essex , winner of the RICS East of England Building Conservation Award 2008
• RSPB Environment and Education Centre, Purfleet, Essex, better known as Rainham Marshes, winner of the RICS East of England Regeneration Award 2008

David Potter, RICS East operations director, said: “David Potter, RICS East operations director, said: “Congratulations to all those who won an award or received a commendation. I wish them all the very best of luck in the international final later this year. I would also like to thank our sponsors and all of the other entrants for the huge amount of effort they put in, which ensured that this year’s competition was a big success.”

In addition to the category award winners several projects picked up commendations for excellence in their field. These were:

Building Conservation category
Highly commended – West Front of Bury Abbey, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 
Highly commended – Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Sustainability category
Highly commended – Roche Headquarters, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

The 2008 RICS East of England regional dinner and awards ceremony was hosted by BBC presenter, Janine Machin. Special guest speaker was John Spence, of Harlow Renaissance.

The event was kindly sponsored by ECA, English Heritage, English Partnerships, Inspire East and Ridgeons.   

All of the winners of the RICS East of England Awards 2008 will now go through to the RICS Awards international final in London, in October this year.