Friday 23 May 2014

College Court scores a hattrick at RIBA East Midlands awards

Three more accolades, including Building of the Year, follow RICS award earlier this month

Good things come in threes, and College Court certainly proves the rule as it has walked away from the Royal Institute of British Architects East Midlands Awards with wins in no less than three categories.

The University of Leicester's Conference Centre and Hotel Project, which transformed a former University Halls of Residence into a state-of-the-art conference facility and Hotel, was named Building of Year at the RIBA regional awards ceremony on 15 May, as well receiving a Conservation Award and an East Midlands Regional Award. 

It follows the award of a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) East Midlands Regional Award for Building Conservation Project of the Year earlier in May.

Members of College Court and the University’s Division of Estates and Facilities Management collected the awards, which celebrate of architectural excellence in the region. Regional winners will be put forward for the RIBA National Awards in June.

Trevor Humphreys, Director of Estates, said: “This is testament to the excellent project team that work tirelessly to deliver a high quality facility on time and on budget.  The University is quite rightly proud of College Court and I am flattered that the RIBA has recognised our work with these awards.”

Steve Crawford, College Court Conference Centre Director, said: "The recent awards won by College Court have come about from great teamwork, clear focus on what we wanted to achieve, and at the heart of all our decisions when developing the project was the customer. These have laid the foundations for College Court as it now successfully operates as a leading conference centre & hotel. The customer is the heart of the business and with the excellent team in place to run College Court I am confident that we will build upon the recent success."

College Court is a £17.5 million project which turned the University's Grade II listed College Hall buildings into a leading residential conference venue.

The buildings were originally designed by internationally renowned architects Trevor Dannatt and Leslie Martin and were originally built as catered student accommodation.

The refurbishment was designed by Associated Architects of Birmingham and constructed by Wilmott Dixon. The new designs met with the approval of one of the original architects, Trevor Dannatt.

The development also houses 18 conference rooms, 123 en suite bedrooms, restaurant, bar, private dining room and garden lounge.

The Grade II listed buildings, located close to the City Centre, had been out of use for around eight years.

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