Put it down to perfect timing, with the heightened interest in offsite technology, combined with the abundance of outstanding projects and product innovations it is easy to see why the 2018 Structural Timber Awards surpassed all previous events in terms of the calibre of entries and attendance.
Construction professionals gathered at this prestigious award ceremony on October 10, at the National Conference Centre, Birmingham - to celebrate the great, the good and the simply outstanding.
The Awards were hosted by compere Mark Durden-Smith and as anyone who has attended this event will know - his infectious humour is just one of the reasons this is a fantastic night out.
With nearly 250 outstanding submissions, this year's Structural Timber Award judges had an onerous job of selecting the winners. The big winner on the night was The Macallan Distillery project, which scooped the Winner of Winners plus two other categories.
One of the judges commented: "The Macallan Distillery project and the precision installation of the engineered timber gridshell roof should be highlighted as a case study, par excellence, to the entire structural timber sector".
The head of the judging panel and Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association, Andrew Carpenter said of the night: "The depth of expertise across all categories was impressive and the exceptional number of entries clearly demonstrates the upturn in the industry. The Structural Timber Awards is a high-point in the construction industry calendar and it is truly inspiring to see so much activity in the sector."
The full list of award winners are:
- Architect of the Year: Chadwick Dryer Clarke for The Stephen Perse Foundation Sports & Learning Building
- Client of the Year: Bloomberg LLP for Bloomberg European HQ
- Commercial Project of the Year: Heyne Tillett Steel & Studio RHE for The Import Building
- Contractor of the Year: Balfour Beatty for Abbey Wood
- Custom & Self-Build Project of the Year: STREIF UK for Skyfall
- Education Project of the Year: Eckersley O'Callaghan for Freemen's School
- Engineer of the Year: Arup for The Macallan Distillery
- Installer of the Year: L&S Baucon GmbH for The Macallan Distillery
- Low Energy Project of the Year: Ruth Butler Architects for Hampshire Passivhaus
- Pioneer Award: Urban Splash for HoUSe
- Private Housing Project of the Year: Barratt Homes Yorkshire East Division for St Wilfrids Walk Development
- Product Innovation Award: Moduloft for Chippenham Bungalow
- Project of the Year: AKT II & Fosters & Partners for Bloomberg European HQ
- Project or Construction Manager of the Year: Barratt Homes Yorkshire East Division - Mark Greenley, Site Manager
- Retail & Leisure Project of the Year: METSÄ WOOD for Center Parcs, Elveden Forest
- Social Housing Project of the Year: CCG & Stora Enso for Ellerslie Road Development
- Best Use of SIPs: Innovaré Systems for Glasdir School
- Best Use of Solid Wood: METSÄ WOOD for Center Parcs, Elveden Forest
- Best Use of Timber Frame: Stewart Milne Timber Systems & Barratt Homes Yorkshire East Division for Barratt's St Wilfrids Walk Development
- Winner of Winners: Arup, L&S Baucon GmbH, Robertson, Wiehag GmbH & Rogers Stirk Harbours + Partners for The Macallan Distillery
There has already been a large amount of attention focused on next year's awards, which will be returning October 2019. The Awards once again will reward excellence, celebrate expertise in timber technology and the ways it contributes to an attractive, energy efficient and sustainable built environment.
For the hundreds of construction professionals who have attended the Structural Timber Awards, there is no need to explain the promotional opportunities that go hand in hand with this event. The Awards provide one of the most effective platforms to promote brands or companies alongside the best of the best.