Commercial Property Awards 2010

The winners of the Commercial Property Awards were announced on 17 May 2011. Information on the winning entries can be found below.

Project of the Year over £3 million

Winner: University Centre Building, South Devon College

The University Centre has been designed to compliment the Vantage Point building, be architecturally dynamic and create a unique impression and identity. It has become a landmark for Torbay, bringing superb university level facilities to South Devon.

The building is composed of 'freestanding' transparent cylindrical form linked by atrium to a 'solid' cube. The visual richness of this copper drum is in stark contrast to the white rendered block setting up a dynamic architectural 'conversation.'

The building comprises 4 storeys around an atrium 'heart'. The rear square block accommodates flexible teaching spaces, with support accommodation either side of serviced gallery walkways. The more flamboyant front drum contains the specialist teaching areas, in dramatic juxtaposition to the atrium. Teaching areas have been designed with great flexibility to adjust to different group sizes ranging from 25 up to 100 in "lecture" style delivery, all with the latest learning technologies including smartboards, podiums and projectors.

South Devon College's 'green agenda' has been prominent in design incorporating rainwater recycling, solar panels and exposed concrete soffits to allow free cooling with night cooling augmented by automatic opening vents all leading to the achievement of a BREEAM rating of excellent.

Runners up:

• Bideford College
• Edginswell Park, Torquay
• Torquay Community College, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Pathfinder One

Project of the Year under £3 million

Winner: Boswyns Drug Detox Centre, Cornwall

Boswyns is a 15 bed residential detoxification facilty, funded by a Department of Health Grant. The only facility of its kind in Cornwall, it provides residential drug users with medical, nursing, social and educational support, and is already attracting clients and revenue from outside the county.

The concept of the scheme came from the ancient Cornish settlements of Carn Euny and Chysauster and it has an 'organic' design - coming out of the ground using locally sourced stone. From the original conceptual design, the development of the new facility has been driven by a wish to reduce the impact of the building on the surrounding environment and reduce the operating costs through energy efficiency and simplicity. This innovative approach and reinterpretation of healthcare design was instrumental in this scheme winning the architectural competition, organised by the Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust, to design this facility.

The overall building aesthetics respects the relief of the site to 'blend in' when viewed from distance and construction materials have been selected to minimise resources from non-sustainable sources; timber frame, larch cladding, green roofs, locally reclaimed stone walling. In addition to these measures the levels of insulation are 20% better than current Building Regulation requirements and robust construction has been used to reduce infiltration and air leakage. A local contractor was used for the construction, and his use of local subcontractors was a key element in his appointment.

Runners up:

• Call Caterlink Head Office, Training and Distribution Centre, Bodmin
• The Wheal Northey Centre, St Austell
• Trevose Golf & Country Club

Building of the Year

Winner: INTO Centre, University of Exeter

This contemporary building provides a high-quality, purpose-built venue for an academic initiative for international students.

The building occupies a prominent 'gateway' site at the University, opposite the Great Hall and Northcott Theatre. The design challenge faced by LHC was to integrate INTO within the scale and context of these two landmark buildings and to respect existing precedents, while at the same time delivering a very modern architectural vision. In response to this, the INTO Centre employs a liited palette of sympathetic materials.

The orientation of the wedge-shaped building has been dictated not only by the existing buildings, but also by the position of the historic arboretum, which provides a tree lined vista for the teaching spaces ranged along two elevations. These elevations (NE and NW) feature a random pattern of brick and floor-to-floor windows which 'frame' the view.

Internally, a three storey atrium radiates around a central lecture pod which acts as a nucleus to the building. The pod is visible from the outside through the glass façade, which faces and reciprocates the glazed wall of the Great Hall. The space is dominated by this towering curved lecture pod, clad in strips of American Red Cherry. Vibrant wall colours, Red Cherry doors and skirtings, the dramatic glass climate wall and richly coloured bespoke furniture complete the striking interior.

Runners up:

• Buckfast Abbey Winery
• Paignton Community Library and Information Centre
• University Centre Building, South Devon College

Heritage Project of the Year

Winner: Torquay Harbour Waterfront Regeneration

In 2005 Torbay Council formed a five year partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Spectrum Housing Association and the South West Regional Development Agency to invest more than £2 million to put the 'Riviera Style' back into the harbour and address the long-term decline and limited investment which has created social problems and the deterioration of buildings and public realm.

The first stage of this project has just drawn to a close and, during the last five years, eight commercial buildings have been restored.

The restoration of the former Sailors Home, now Harbour Amusements on Victoria Parade, was the first to be tackled by the scheme. The amusement arcade at street level was operating successfully in isolation. However, the floors above the shop were vacant and a large box dormer from the 1960s disfigured the once elaborate roof bays.

Torquay is a famous seaside destination where amusement arcades have flourished for decades. Taking historic photos of the site as reference, this restoration celebrates the seaside! Bay doors were constructed to follow the lines of the original building. Signage was designed with an Edwardian 'end of the pier' style.

However, the work above is where this project really succeeds. A scheme to provide eight social housing apartments for Spectrum Housing was carefully designed by specialist conservation surveyors from Stratton and Holborow. The resulting work reveals a stunning building.

This scheme demonstrates that our historic seaside towns have a real future.

Runners up:

• Mayflower House Residential Care Home, Plymouth
• The Corn Barn, Cullompton 

Eco Building of the Year

Winner: Performance Centre, Combined Universities of Cornwall

In order to accommodate the merger of Dartington College of Arts and University College Falmouth, the brief required a new world class facility for the performing arts on land at the Tremough Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, to include state-of-the-art facilities for Music, Dance and Theatre students, practitioners and researchers.

The project is a new contemporary centre for distinctive practice-led learning methods providing bespoke facilities for musicians, theatre, dancers and choreographers. The building was required to respond to the landscape and orientation to create an environmentally responsible solution.

Maintaining the required "openness" for natural ventilation contrasted with the need to restrict acoustic breakout. This was resolved through careful detailing in consultation with the design team.

The building takes sustainability seriously and contains a number of features designed to increase its energy efficiency such as maximizing natural daylight and ventilation, using locally sourced materials, a 'Green' roof with carefully selected wild flower seeding, providing surface water drainage attenuation, solar shading to minimize solar gain and a building form that works closely with existing site topography to minimize ground engineering works. All of which has achieved a BREEAM 'excellent' rating.

Runners up:

• Bosence Farm, Cornwall
• Buckfast Abbey Winery 

Property Personality of the Year

Winner: Bob Alcock

A former director of Buildings Estates for Exeter University and more recently, director of Special Projects there.  Bob has been involved with the property affairs at the University since 1987 and it is probably the case that there has been more property development carried out on the campus and beyond than by any other organisation in the South West in recent times. 

The supervisory maintenance and development of an eclectic group of buildings from different eras and modes of construction and managed to achieve a high standard of presentation without flamboyance and with prudent husbandry.  He has been highly instrumental in the creation and evolution of the master plan for the development of the Exeter campus, overseeing a period of exceptional growth and these skills have been transferred to the Tremough campus in Cornwall where the University are developing the Environmental and Sustainability Institute and Academy of Innovation and Research.

He is extremely proud of the Lacey Hickie Caley designed Peter Chalk Centre which was really innovative for that time and latterly the Forum, another project with the Wilkinson Eyre Architects' unique grid-shell roof design unifying the Library and Devonshire House as well as a large part of the central campus area.

Runners up:

• Rob Chudley, Cyril Sweett
• Kier Western

The John Laurence Award for Professional Firm of the Year

Winner: King Sturge

This nationally recognised professional firm of property advisors are currently celebrating their 250th year! The firm was awarded the estates Gazette National Property Advisor of the Year for 2010.
 
Despite the challenges of the current market, the following were achieved in the year:

• over 650,000 square foot of business space transacted in Taunton, Exeter and Plymouth and industrial deals in Exeter, Plymouth and Cornwall
• £16.5m of project management works were completed;
• £150m of property assets were valued; and
• £5m of residential sales transacted.

Major projects which were worked on during 2010 included Firepool, Taunton; Exeter Science Park (Exeter); Skypark (Exeter); Exeter Airport, (Exeter); Oxygen House, Exeter Business Park;  Hellerman Tyton New European Headquarters; Mountwise (Plymouth); Cornwall County Council Asset Management Strategy.

Finally, significant inward investment in the hotel and restaurant sector has also been achieved involving brands such as Whitbread, Ask, Enterprise Inns and Pizza Express

Runners up:

• Harrison Sutton Partnership
• Kensington Taylor

Read more about the Michelmores/Western Morning News Commercial Property Awards here.