RICS North East Renaissance Awards 2007
The Rivergreen Centre Wins Renaissance Awards 2007
The Rivergreen Centre, at Aykley Heads, County Durham, was awarded the title of Project of the Year 2007 at the RICS North East Renaissance Awards in Newcastle last night (Friday 27 April 2007).
The Awards, sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland attracted a record number of entries.
The ‘green’ credentials of the multi-award winning centre clearly impressed the judges and helped it beat off strong challenges from other landmark developments across the region.
The annual awards – presented by RICS (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) at Newcastle’s Civic Centre – recognise the best in the built environment and are open to all building, construction and landscaping projects in the North East.
There are eight categories – Building Conservation, Regeneration, Sustainability, Community Benefit, Commercial, Residential, Tourism & Leisure and Innovation & Design – and the winners battle it out for the title RICS North East Project of the Year.
This year saw a record entry of 55 projects from across the region. It pitched multi-million developments such as Middlesbrough’s Institute of Modern Art, against much smaller projects like the St Mary the Virgin Chapel at Shepherd's Law, Northumberland.
Project of the Year the Rivergreen Centre is a large two-storey office development near Durham City, designed by Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall Architects.
‘A low impact, environmentally sensitive building’ it features solar panels, 'windcatchers' for ventilation, wood-pellet burning boilers, sedum blankets on the roof and recycles rainwater. With a high degree of timber in its construction, it sits naturally in its environment, as if emerging from the surrounding woodland.
RICS North Operations Director Jennifer Welch said:
“As an exercise in 'doing things differently', the Rivergreen Centre is an exemplar project. This bold development has broken the mould for commercial development and proved that a creative approach to design and the inclusion of sustainable technologies can be combined to make a building that is successful both economically and for the end user. Rivergreen is a deserved winner of this year’s RICS North East Renaissance Awards Project of the Year Award.”
The judges clearly thought the building outstanding as it won three categories on the night (Sustainability, Commercial and Design & Innovation) as well as the top award.
The individual category winners were:-
BUILDING CONSERVATION
Culture Lab, Newcastle University
REGENERATION
Horton Park Office Complex, Newcastle
SUSTAINABILITY
The Rivergreen Centre, Aykley Heads, County Durham
COMMUNITY BENEFIT
The St Martins Centre, Byker, Newcastle
COMMERCIAL
The Rivergreen Centre, Aykley Heads, County Durham
DESIGN & INNOVATION
The Rivergreen Centre, Aykley Heads, County Durham
RESIDENTIAL
Westoe Crown Village, South Tyneside
TOURISM & LEISURE
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and Public Square
Two short listed entries also received commendations on the night; Newcastle College’s Lifestyle Academy and St Mary the Virgin Chapel, at Shepherd’s Law, Northumberland.
Judges said the Chapel, which combined a place of worship for all divisions of Christianity with excellent sustainability and environmentally friendly attributes, had not fit easily into any one category but was first class none the less.
Former winners of the RICS North East Project of the Year Award have included Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle, Newcastle University’s Devonshire Building and the regeneration of Longbenton, in North Tyneside.
The RICS North East Renaissance Awards were supported by a wide range of sponsors.
The main sponsor was the Royal Bank of Scotland, category sponsors were Northumbria University, One NorthEast, Hays, Northumbrian Water Property Solutions, Carillion, Regeneration & Renewal magazine, Sarnafil, The Knowledge Foundation and Ward Hadaway. Other sponsors are Brakes, Wood Holmes Group, the R&B Group and Bradley O’Mahoney Public Relations.
