East Midlands projects dominate National Constructing Excellence Awards

FIVE forward-thinking construction projects representing Constructing Excellence Midlands have been recognised at the National Constructing Excellence Awards, celebrating best practice, project collaboration and commitments to key agendas across the industry
The annual awards are organised by industry collaboration organisation Constructing Excellence, which delivers resources, theme groups and summits to construction professionals through nine regional centres and more than 30 leadership clubs across the country.
Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of Constructing Excellence Midlands, said: “It’s fantastic to see a strong representation and success for East Midlands projects at the national awards.
“From standardised design to offsite manufacture, pushing the standards of Passivhaus and commitments to net zero, these projects set the standards for public sector infrastructure delivery and deliver a great return on investment for clients looking to make ambitious builds.”
HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough by Kier Construction scooped the building project of the year award, providing 1,700 places and featuring a first of its kind design that is 80% standardized and 70% more energy efficient than traditional prison facilities – setting the benchmark for five new prisons to be delivered using a similar approach.
The project generated a £135m social return on investment and created 227 new jobs, including 19 ex-offenders and eight men on release on temporary licence.
The regeneration to Buxton Crescent hotel and thermal spa won the conservation and regeneration award. Restoring a Grade 1 listed Georgian hotel, the Trevor Osborne Property Group worked with public sector partners to ensure works were undertaken sensitively to not disrupt the supply of water via Buxton’s springs.
Awarded for its innovation work towards predictive analytics in health and safety, Project Vinnie by Galliford Try uses AI to interpret construction data to identify site issues that can impact project performance and predict risk issues on site – creating a product that makes construction firms more receptive to sharing data.
The Meole-Brace Vanguard Building by Read Construction for Shropshire County Council won the main prize in the net zero category, the UK’s first Passivhaus masonry cavity education project. The NCH 2050 Homes social housing retrofit by Melius Homes for Nottingham City Council was awarded highly commended – utilising offsite manufactured structural timber panels to improve the airtightness and thermal insulation of the building fabric.
Andrew added: “The contribution of these projects to net zero construction is particularly impressive. We’ve seen inexperienced project teams on net zero, such as the team behind the Vanguard Building, collaborate to deliver projects that push the standards of sustainable building – proving that effective collaboration can deliver equally strong project outcomes as experienced professionals to deliver low carbon builds.
“As Constructing Excellence continues to grow its presence in the West and East Midlands, following the launch of its Nottingham club to its expanding portfolio of leadership clubs and industry network, we look forward to celebrating the successes behind more projects in the area through regional and national awards.”