The
Remembrance Centre at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) scooped the top ‘UK
Project of the Year’ title at this year’s industry leading Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards Grand Final, making it the second year in a
row that a West Midlands built project has won the prestigious accolade.
Last
year, Birmingham New Street & Grand Central was awarded the title, and this
year the Remembrance Centre stole the RICS Judges’ hearts in front of over 300
guests at a black-tie ceremony hosted by BBC Breakfast News and Sport Anchor,
Dan Walker on 2 November at the Intercontinental London, Park Lane Hotel.
Over
95 regional winners competed against each other for the chance to be
crowned the overall UK winner in their respective category, and the opportunity
to scoop the coveted national Project of the Year title at this year's Grand
Final.
The
£15.7m Remembrance Centre - delivered by Edmond Shipway, Glenn Howells
Architects and Stepnell – won two category awards at the RICS Awards, West
Midlands (Community Benefit and Tourism & Leisure) held at Warwickshire
County Cricket Ground, before winning the UK Project of the Year accolade at
this year’s RICS Awards Grand Final, for demonstrating outstanding best
practice and significant benefit to its local area and wider economy.
The
NMA is the UK’s year-round centre of Remembrance. Starting in 1997 with the
initial tree being planted, the NMA is often seen as a spiritually uplifting
place, which honours the fallen and recognises service and sacrifice. The
latest addition to the arboretum – the Remembrance Centre – was described by
RICS Judges as a unique building that not only enhances the visitor journey,
thanks to its interactive activities, and exceptional galleries and
exhibitions, but is also of beautiful and sustainable, detailed construction.
Chair
of the RICS Awards Grand Final judging panel, David Brooks Wilson of Noble
Wilson commented: “In a year that has seen the centenary of Passchendaele and
the passing of our last Spitfire pilot and chartered surveyor, Ken Wilkinson,
it is indeed fitting that our winner celebrates and remembers our fallen heroes
in such an innovative and commercially successful setting.
“What
started as an idea of Commander David Childs CBE, with no money, land or trees
has become a living tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their
country.
“The
latest addition of the Remembrance Centre, whilst deceptively simple, succeeds
in meeting diverse and complex requirements. It engages both with its
environment and its visitors, as a place of welcome and orientation leading to
the new Heroes’ Square and onto the Arboretum itself. The team have really
encapsulated the NMA’s vision, as an arboretum of joy where the lives of people
are remembered by living trees that grow and mature.”
The
eight national category winners of the 2017 RICS Awards Grand Final are:
- Building
Conservation - Glynde Place, Glynde (South East)
- Commercial
- One Central Square, Cardiff (Wales)
- Community
Benefit - The Word, South Shields (North East)
- Design
through Innovation - British Airways I-360, Brighton (South East)
- Infrastructure
- Wemyss Bay Pier Walkway, Wemyss Bay (Scotland)
- Regeneration
– New Waverley, Edinburgh (Scotland)
- Residential
- Clementhorpe Maltings, York (Yorkshire & Humber)
- Tourism
& Leisure - Remembrance Centre at the National Memorial Arboretum
(West Midlands)
Mr
Brooks Wilson commented: “Judging the Grand Final projects is always difficult
for our judges as every built initiative is a regional winner in their own
right, so they are of an exceptional calibre, and each year we are overwhelmed
with the innovation and attention to detail that the teams behind these
projects have achieved. This year’s Grand Final winners are truly remarkable
and are all positively contributing to their local communities and actively
enhancing the way we live, work and play across the UK.”
