News
12 May 2010
Community access results in award success for Leicester Grammar School
Winner of the regional Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) Community Benefit Award, Leicester Grammar School triumphed at the East Midlands awards dinner held on the eve of the General Election.
Leicester Grammar School’s architects Pick Everard were among over 200 property professionals attending the annual regional celebration held at the Belfry Hotel in Nottingham to honour the best new projects in the built environment. Projects competed in four categories; building conservation, community benefit, regeneration and sustainability. In the sustainability category, the William Smith Building also designed by Pick Everard for the British Geological Survey in Keyworth was commended.
Commenting on Leicester Grammar School’s RICS Community Benefit Award Pick Everard partner Duncan Green commented,” The school’s vision to open up its facilities was part of the original brief. Our aim as designers was to maximise the community’s use of the school. The site offers superb facilities that the community can enjoy yet the impact on the surrounding rural area has been successfully minimised. It was a challenging brief as the project had no public sector funding.”
Headmaster at Leicester Grammar School Christopher King added, “We’re very proud to have won the 2010 RICS Community Benefit Award in recognition of our ongoing commitment to our community. So many local, regional and national organisations now use our facilities and the school has been host to county hockey, netball, table tennis and swimming competitions, local parliamentary hustings and British Youth Brass Band champions.”
Keith Ross at NatWest Bank plc led the recent restructuring of the project’s finances following the school’s successful relocation from four sites in the city of Leicester to an affordable, purpose built facility on a 75-acre site and commented, “The new premises are truly impressive and we could see the many benefits in the school acquiring them. The recent outright purchase of the property represents a major investment by the school and we were delighted to work with them and provide the necessary funding.”
The winning projects will go on to compete in the grand final of the international RICS Awards in London in October, and any contender could scoop the most prestigious prize in the UK property industry - RICS Project of the Year award - to join a long line of inspirational building projects.
The William Smith Building is the newest addition to the British Geological Survey headquarters in Nottingham and was recognised by judges for being a sustainable new build using an existing site comprising six original buildings. Some 3000 square metres, this the largest wooden-framed open-plan office building in the UK and boasts energy efficient building techniques including cedar and terracotta cladding, sheep's wool insulation and under-floor heating.
Stephen Anelay FRICS, lead judge for the East Midlands, said, “The standard of entries for the RICS Awards this year was extremely high and the judges very much enjoyed the opportunity to see so many of the East Midlands’ outstanding projects and developments.” ENDS
