Nightingale Associates win a National Gold and National Silver award at the Green Apple 2010 awards
Last night, Nightingale Associates, a leading architectural practice specialising in health, education and science buildings for the public sector, scooped a National Gold for Gateway Sixth Form College and National Silver for Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda at the International Green Apple 2010 awards for the built environment and architectural heritage.
Winner of the National Gold award in the medium-sized business architects category, Gateway Sixth Form College, is a highly-sustainable new-build college campus in Leicester, designed to accommodate 1500 students.
In line with the college’s aspirations for a sustainable environment, architects Nightingale Associates and mechanical and electrical designers, Arup designed a building that minimises carbon footprint. A number of affordable and innovative environmental solutions were integrated into the design, many of which are on display as part of the ‘visible sustainability’ concept, established to encourage students to take a proactive approach to environmental issues.
Winner of the National Silver award for Wales, Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda, successfully replaces an out-moded and inappropriate facility to provide an exemplary healthcare facility for the community. More than this, the building celebrates the reconciliation of contemporary aesthetics and sustainable technologies with a contextual response to the site’s architectural heritage.
The scheme, which scored a NEAT ‘Excellent’ rating, incorporated the use of a biomass boiler as the hospital’s primary heat source, despite budget restraints. At the time of its design in 2004, the use of biomass boilers was innovative in its application in a healthcare setting; the installed facility, according to the biomass boiler’s supplier, remains the “largest to be installed in a new-build NHS scheme in the UK”.
The annual International Green Apple awards were established in 1994 as an annual campaign to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world.
The 2010 International Green Apple award ceremony was held at HM Tower of London on 14th June 2010.
