The One Angel Square development in Manchester has been named Project of the Year at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards final in London.
The globally recognised institution said it was the best ever year for entries with more than 600 building projects entered for the awards which celebrate the built and natural environment.
Katie Derham of the BBC hosted the event which also saw category awards presented for building conservation, community benefit, design and innovation, and regeneration.
The overall winning project, a £100 million new headquarters for the Co-operative Group, is the largest commercial office building in Manchester and has also achieved the highest scoring BREEAM outstanding office rating in the country, setting a new national benchmark in sustainable design in the commercial sector.
RICS judges said every aspect of the building has been constructed with sustainability at heart, with leading technologies utilised throughout, including underground earth tubes that provide an amount of free heating and cooling.
It is powered by a pure plant oil fed combined heat and power system and the building also uses rapeseed oil grown on the Co-operative Group's own farmland. It was also judged the best property for design and innovation.
‘Hats off to all those involved in One Angel Square for putting forward such a compelling entry. The quality of the development speaks for itself. As the first BREEAM outstanding regional office building in the UK, it goes to show that sustainability, cutting edge design and architectural appeal can go hand in hand,’ said Michael Newey, RICS president.
‘The RICS Awards are testament to the professionalism and skill that lies at the heart of all the professions operating across the built environment, and it's extremely encouraging to see quite so many entries. The benchmark was set extremely high by the shortlisted projects and they're shining examples of the positive contribution development or renovation can make to wider society,’ he added.
The other category winners were the Florence Institute in Liverpool for building conservation, Hengrove Park leisure centre in Bristol for community benefit, and the Clyde Gateway in Glasgow for regeneration.
Past winners include St Paul's Cathedral in London, St Pancras station in London, the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, the Eden Project in Cornwall and the site of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Source: www.propertywire.com
Publisher: designbuild-network.com