Two Derry projects recognised at prestigious RICS Awards

An Chroí Community Hub and North West Multi Modal Transport Hub have been recognised at the prestigious RICS Awards Grand Final in London.

An Chroí Community Hub was highly commended in the Community Benefit Project category, whilst the project team delivering the North West Multi Modal Transport Hub won Infrastructure Team of the Year. 

Category winners of all sizes and budgets from each of the 12 regional RICS Awards competed in the Grand Final for the chance to win their respective category.

Four new national categories were introduced at this year’s awards - Infrastructure Team of the Year, Environmental Impact, Outstanding Large and Small surveying firm/team. The 10 category winners were announced at the ceremony as well as the overall winner and a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. 

The judges said that the North West Multi-Modal Transport hub is a “worthy winner” in its category. 

They said: “This transport hub project covered the restoration and refurbishment of the former Grade B listed Waterside train station in Derry.

"It delivered a strategic gateway to the North West of Northern Ireland and materially assisted in regenerating the local economy.  It encouraged a modal shift from cars to public transport by providing an integrated and convenient service to encourage more active travel.   

“The Integrated Design Team appointed by Translink provided an extremely high standard of service to the client with the quantity surveyors acting as an integral part of the team, reviewing costs against budget at every stage.” 

Nominated by Consarc Conservation, the project team included an Integrated Design Team (IDT) appointed by Translink, including Mott MacDonald, Consarc Conservation, Babcock Rail, and Farrans.

North West Multi Modal Transport Hub

Commenting on An Chroí Community Hub, judges said: “An Chroí means The Heart in Irish and this excellent and intensively used centre provides ‘cradle to grave’ services to the surrounding community. 

"The judges noted in particular that this centre is playing a significant role in bringing together various parts of the community which in the past has had a troubled history.” 

In a great awards for Northern Ireland, Erne Campus at South West College in Enniskillen won the overall UK Project of the Year title as well as the Public Sector Project of the Year. 

Commenting on the grand final winners, chair of the judging panel David Brooks-Wilson FRICS said: “The judging panel and I were so impressed with the dedication of the teams behind these winning projects, they are a true testament to the tireless dedication of industry professionals across the UK.

"Their talent and collaborative approaches have resulted in exemplary and innovative schemes that really do represent the very best built projects across the regions.   

“Each of the winning projects is having a profoundly positive impact on their local area and the RICS is delighted to recognise the hard work that went behind ensuring these projects were delivered successfully, particularly in such challenging and uncertain times as we navigated through the pandemic.

"The teams behind them should be incredibly proud of the part they have played in helping to improve their community and wider local economy.”