This follows a year that saw a record number of new and existing buildings being registered for BREEAM assessment.
‘This is a testament to the outstanding skill and determination of the building owners, developers, project teams and assessors who are setting new standards in sustainability, despite the difficult economic conditions,’ says Carol Atkinson, Chief Executive of BRE Global, which develops and manages BREEAM. ‘We believe that one of the reasons for their commitment is that more and more clients and project teams are now equating high BREEAM ratings with better building performance.’
All of the award-winning buildings achieved at least an ‘Excellent’ rating, which requires a BREEAM score of 70% or above, with a number reaching the 85% needed for ‘Outstanding’. Among the very wide range of buildings this year was the Dogs Trust Shrewsbury Rehoming Centre, which gained the highest ever BREEAM post-construction score awarded to date. Close behind was ‘The Green’ student accommodation at the University of Bradford, which earned additional ‘Innovation Credits’ for its provision of real-time, energy-use and water-use displays to every student flat. Both these buildings achieved scores of over 94%.
Several of the buildings achieved exemplary energy efficiency and carbon reduction performances. Ashmount Primary School and Bowlers Nursery, for example, are part of North London’s Crouch Hill Park carbon-negative development. The new Harold Hill Fire Station, which was opened by London Mayor Boris Johnson, uses 42% less energy than the average for a London fire station.
There were a number of ‘firsts’ among this year’s winners, including:
• the first healthcare building in the UK to achieve a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating – Houghton Primary Care Centre.
• the first building in the City of London to be certified under BREEAM In-Use – One Silk Street occupied by law firm Linklaters LLP.
• the first prison building to achieve BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ – the Living Unit at Thameside prison (formally known as Belmarsh West).
• the first retail building to achieve ‘Outstanding’ – Waitrose Stratford City branch.
Among the international award winners was Tour Majunga, a 44-storey office building in Paris’ La Défense business district, which was the highest scoring building in Europe in 2011.
Other awards at the event included one for the highest scoring home certified by BRE Global under the Code for Sustainable Homes. In addition, awards were presented to some of the leading BREEAM Assessors. The Award for Assessor Company of the Year went to Capita Symonds, and individual Assessor of the Year awards were presented to Barny Evans of WSP Group, Duncan Wren of URS Corporation and Joanne Thetford of Capita Symonds. The full list of winners is:
BREEAM Award Winner
Bespoke Dogs Trust Shrewsbury Rehoming Centre
Data Centres British Geological Survey Data Centre
Education Ashmount Primary School and Bowlers Nursery, Crouch Hill
Further Education SusCon, North West Kent College
Higher Education Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts
Fire Station Harold Hill Fire Station
Healthcare Houghton Primary Care Centre
Industrial Foresterhill Energy Centre, NHS Grampian
International Tour Majunga, Paris
In-Use Part 1 (Asset) Oude Houtlei 140, Gent
In-Use Part 2 (Management) One Silk Street, City of London
Multi-Residential The Green, University of Bradford
Offices Green Incubator, South Shields
Prisons Thameside Prison Living Unit
Retail Waitrose Stratford City
Code for Sustainable Homes St John’s Church Vicarage, Wembley
Assessors of the Year Barny Evans, Joanne Thetford and Duncan Wren
Assessor Company of the Year Capita Symonds
(Photos of all the winning buildings can be provided)
For further information on BREEAM, go to www.breeam.org.
