Integrated Covid Hub North East Highly Commended & Teesside University Wins Client of the Year at CENE 2021 Awards
Friday 8th October 2021 saw the construction industry gather to celebrate the most prestigious built environment projects in the North East.
In its sixteenth year, the Constructing Excellence North East Awards celebrate everything the north east built environment has to be proud of with winners selected across various categories including Innovation, Integration & Collaborative Working, Value, Digital Construction and Offsite.
This year Desco were part of the design team of four projects shortlisted for the awards; Cornell Quarter, shortlisted in 4 categories; Integration and Collaborative Working, Health Safety and Wellbeing, Client of the Year and Building Project of the Year; Hadrians Tower, shortlisted in the Building Project of The Year category; Integrated Covid Hub North East, shortlisted in the Building Project of the Year category; The Coach House, shortlisted in the Conservation & Regeneration category.
We were delighted to see the Integrated Covid Hub North East was Highly Commended in the Building Project of the Year category. The scheme was delivered in just 13 weeks for Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS and Foundation Trust and has provided more capacity for Covid-19 testing, specialist facilities to develop innovative approaches to Covid science and a regional centre to share and coordinate data, information and resources. The lab processes PCR tests from home testing and local testing sites in the region, as well as the rest of the country when needed. The laboratory provides a significant expansion to Covid testing capacity, strengthening the region’s resilience and ability to control virus spread. The team included Turner & Townsend, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Robertson Construction, Ryder Architecture and Geoffrey Robinson Ltd.
Teesside University and Wates Construction – a collaboration, won Client of the Year category for Cornell Quarter, a 300 bed student residential scheme for the University. The £21m development marked another major milestone in the University’s Campus Masterplan. The scheme achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ with an EPC rating ‘A’. Modern methods of construction and offsite fabrication were used to enhance the programme delivery. The scheme was delivered in exceptionally tight timescales and despite the impact of Covid19 stoppage was limited to a 48 hour period whilst new procedures were developed which was testament to the trust and support of Teesside University. This enabled the scheme to be delivered from feasibility to site in just 24 weeks with a 75 week build programme. The team included Wates Construction Ltd, Teesside University, Summers Inman, Napper Architects, BGP and Ares Landscaping Architects Ltd.