THE PROJECT CATEGORIES
Commercial projects
This winner will be the most impressive new commercial project completed in the region, and certified by LABC. See the regional awards page for details of the date of completion. Any type of commercial building is eligible – offices, retail, industrial or leisure. There are different categories for small commercial, for work valued up to £1M, and large commercial, for work valued over £1M. The scale is not important, as the judges will be equally impressed by a smaller scheme that has been thoughtfully implemented, or where the working arrangement with Building Control has resulted in design improvements.
Housing/residential projects
There are several categories, including large and small residential developments, individual houses, and schemes for social or affordable housing. All schemes must have LABC certification. The large housing schemes might focus on consistent quality that reveals the qualities of the site management team. The smaller housing sites might show how the development dovetails into established street scenes and patterns, the individual house might focus on design and construction excellence to create a stylish home, and the social scheme might show the benefits of the development, especially if the site is renewal. These examples are not an exhaustive list of the qualities the judges might look for.
Community and Education categories
There is and award for the best community and education project approved by LABC. The community category includes healthcare, libraries, and other community facilities. The education category includes schools, further education and university buildings. Any size of project can be entered, from a classroom extension to a new school, or a doctors surgery to a new hospital. Try and highlight the achievement and the difference the project has made in its community setting, or how a new educational facility has improved the opportunities for the students to learn.
Domestic conversion or extensions
This award will go to the most impressive conversion or extension to a domestic property, completed in the region and certified by LABC. Yet again, size does not matter as much as the quality that went into the design and construction.
Domestic residential conversion
West of England, South West, East Midlands and North West regions. This award will go to the most impressive conversion to create a domestic property, completed in the region and certified by LABC. The size of the project is not as important as the design process, the care and re-use of design and features of the original building, and the craft that goes into the restoration.The type of building can vary too - quite often this category features converted farm buildings, but entries can also be from past industrial or commercial use.
For all these categories, remember the following points:- Anyone can enter – an architect that helped develop the idea, the contractor, customer, or LABC department that was impressed by project. The judges will be looking for attention to detail, evidence of a positive working relationship with Building Control and all round build quality.
- Describe the “challenge” and how the design overcame the difficulties you were presented with. Include drawings or photographs within your document if this will help explain what you did.
- Make sure you stress the quality of the construction solution that was developed and include photographs that testify to the quality of the end result.
- Examples are better than generalities. Explaining how a good working relationship overcame a specific problem is better than just stating that there were good working relationships.
- Its beneficial to include input from the customer or the end-user of the project. This could be to show that the project fulfilled their original design brief, or that they appreciated the design and construction features that you included with your nomination.
THE DESIGN CATEGORIES
These awards are aimed at recognising an individual, organisation, or scheme that has come up with an interesting way of complying with the Building Regulations via a new design or technological innovation.
Technical Innovation
The judges will be looking for new or unusual ways to overcome construction challenges. This could be due to structural design, fire engineering, accessible environment, or indeed any part of the building covered by the building regulations, except sustainable construction, which has its own category.The structural design could be where the form of the structural elements create a striking feature of the finished building. Fire engineering could be where a fire engineering approach led to a more flexibly designed space than normal. Access features tend to be to improvements to existing buildings, but past winners have included one-off designs that are focussed on the needs of disabled people.
Sustainable Construction
This award will go to the most ambitious design solution that has been developed to help a project meet Part L of the Building Regulations. It can be for any type of building. Perhaps your building adopts modern methods of construction, uses a renewable energy, makes use of locally sourced materials, or has a low carbon footprint.
Vernacular Building
South West region only. This award celebrates the design and construction where the aim is to blend a new development into the context of the surrounding area. There is no limit on the size of the development, it could be a small domestic extension or a large town centre site. The judges will be looking for the details that show the care used. Endorsements from Conservation Officers, and evidence from planning submission would be particularly helpful in this category.
For all these categories, remember the following points:
- Anyone can enter – an architect that helped develop the idea, a LABC department or disabled rights group that was impressed by the innovation, or anyone else that was involved in the development.
- Succinctly describe the “challenge” and how the design overcame the difficulties you were presented with. Include drawings or photographs within your document if this will help explain what you did
- Try to highlight the benefits of your design, especially if it could be more widely adopted by others. For example, will it make buildings even safer? Will it save time and construction costs? Will it make it easier for people to use buildings? Will it result in energy savings, or less noise transmittance?
- Make sure you stress the quality of the construction solution that was developed and include photographs that testify to the quality of the end result.
- Examples are better than generalities. Explaining how a good working relationship overcame a specific problem is better than just stating that there were good working relationships.
- Its beneficial to include input from the customer or the end-user of the project. This could be to show that the project fulfilled their original design brief, or that they appreciated the design and construction features that are the feature of your nomination.
PARTNERSHIP CATEGORIES
By “partnership” we mean any on-going relationship between a LABC team and a member of the construction team. This need not be a formalised Partnership, or involve any contractual relationship; it is simply defined as two parties who have worked well together.
The award recognises an on-going relationship between a member of the design or construction team and a Local Authority Building Control department. If you have developed a good relationship with your building control department, (or vice versa), this is the category for you. The size of the organisations involved does not matter.
The award will focus more on the strengths of the partnership rather than individual schemes produced by it. The schemes can be constructed anywhere in the country, as long as the partnership involves a LABC team based in the region you are nominating to. You can also nominate exceptional individual schemes constructed in a region in one of the project or design categories for that region.
For the partnership category please make sure your submission addresses the following points:
- How long have you worked together, and on what types of project?
- Highlight any innovative solutions you have developed by working in partnership. Try to quantify the benefits that have accrued from this close co-operation – for example did you save time on getting you projects approved, or did the new solution you developed mean the building could be built better, faster or more cost effectively?
- Include some images that show the end result
- Provide a testimonial from both the parties that have been involved.
- Examples are better than generalities. Explaining how a good working relationship overcame a specific problem is better than just stating that there were good working relationships.
- Its beneficial to include input from the customer or the end-user of the project. This could be to show that the project fulfilled their original design brief, or that they appreciated the benefits of, or perhaps participated in, the partnership arrangement.
