Three of Bedfordshire’s finest construction projects have been shortlisted for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) East of England Awards 2008.
Altogether a record 29 entries have been shortlisted from across the East of England and will battle it out at the final on Thursday 15 May.
Now in their 18th year, the RICS awards, celebrate and recognise exemplary projects across four categories – building conservation, regeneration, sustainability and community benefit.
The three Bedfordshire projects shortlisted are:
- St George’s Square (Luton)
Luton Borough Council has been shortlisted in the regeneration category for its St George’s Square project in the heart of Luton. The space has been transformed from an under-used area into a busy town square of the highest quality. Luton's new-look St George's Square has already won gold in the national Town Centre Environment Awards 2007. Its attractions include an amphitheatre, seating, trees, shrubs, grassed area and improved disabled access.
- Keeper’s Cottage (Bedfordshire)
The Landmark Trust has entered its Keeper’s Cottage project into the building conservation category. The project involved the restoration and conservation of a grade II listed, 19th century, gamekeeper’s cottage, to provide unique holiday accommodation. The work included installing water and electricity and repairing the roof and historic timberwork. By keeping the interior as unchanged as possible, the project has revitalised this beautiful cottage.
- The Village at Butterfield (Luton)
Easter Group Limited is a finalist in the sustainability category for its project, The Village at Butterfield. The project comprises five buildings of 65,000 square feet and is the first phase of an 87 acre business park on the outskirts of Luton. The project utilises an innovative environmental strategy, which has achieved a BREEAM excellent rating. The Village will boast the first office buildings in the UK to incorporate an innovative passive heating and cooling ventilation system using earth ducts.
Colin Chick, corporate director of environment and regeneration at Luton Borough Council, said: “The advent of Butterfield will help Luton towards its ambition of becoming a high technology centre, capable of attracting international attention and acting as a magnet for inward investment. The fact that it is in a parkland setting, providing enhanced bio-diversity with buildings designed to the highest levels of sustainability, sets new standards in technology centre provision.”
David Potter, RICS East of England operations manager, said: “The RICS awards is one of the most important and prestigious international showcases for the property industry. In the East of England we will be recognising and celebrating the projects that have led the way in helping to regenerate and conserve our region over the past year.”
“This year we have received a record-breaking number of entries and as always, all have been of a very high standard. St George’s Square, Keeper’s Cottage and The Village at Butterfield have done extremely well to be amongst the finalists and I wish them all the very best of luck in the final.”
The 2008 RICS East of England regional dinner and awards are taking place at The Old Palace, Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. All 220 tickets for the awards have now sold out and attendees will be entertained by special guests, BBC presenter Janine Machin, who will be hosting the event, and John Spence, chairman of Harlow Renaissance, who will be delivering the after dinner speech.
The event is being 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 go through to the RICS Awards international final in London later this year.
