Awards

We are delighted to announce that Scott White and Hookins scooped the Highly Commended award for the transformation of the Percy Gee Building - University of Leicester, at this year's ACE Engineering Excellence Awards. The announcement was made by ITV News anchor Mary Nightingale at a gala dinner on 25th May at the recently refurbished St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.

The multi-million pound new development transformed the building with 35 different floor levels over five storeys into a state-of-the-art facility. The transformation project, designed by architect Shepheard Epstein Hunter and constructed by Morgan Sindall plc, has changed the Percy Gee into a thriving multi-purpose Union building at the entrance to the campus.

Our congratulations go to Doug Alcock and Julian Marshall for such a superb achievement. The award adds credence to our belief that we provide the highest quality Structural Engineering Design Service to all our clients.

Professor Helen Atkinson, Chair of the Percy Gee project redevelopment team, said: "We took into account students' views throughout the planning of this development and their needs and expectations have shaped the physical development of the space. Ultimately, we have a building that is fit for purpose now and for the future."

A stunning new central atrium bathed in natural light and incorporating a social meeting place forms the centrepiece of the new development. It includes a new terrace with panoramic views over the City, new Activities Resources Centre and new restaurant called '1923' after the year the Students' Union was founded. The building boasts a clutch of environmental features.

In addition a 1,750 capacity live music and club venue, the O2 Academy, with additional venues, O2 Academy2 Leicester (500 capacity) and O2 Academy3 (for 250 patrons) is a highlight of the facility.

There are new shops and improved Accommodation Agency, Welfare Advice Service and Education Unit services among a host of other facilities.

The Percy Gee Project has already won the 2010 Leicester Civic Society Award for Architecture complementing the Historic Built Environment of the City of Leicester. The Civic Society panel found "An exciting new building constructed on an extremely difficult and sensitive site almost ringed by listed buildings in the University Campus and the historic parkland of the Welford Road Cemetery. The building is large and of a striking design yet manages to be almost unobtrusive in its setting."

The East London Line project has scooped two more awards at the ICE London Civil Engineering Awards 2011.

The extension of the East London Line received the top trophy, the 'Greatest contribution to London' award as well as the 'Community' award at the event. These latest accolades add to the five awards the project has already won since it opened in 2010.

The judging panel commented:
"Over on the east side of town, a tired forgotten tube line has been transformed into a shiny new service. It is a perfect example of how to reuse old bits of infrastructure to create something so much better and useful than what went before. But this line extends far beyond its nuts and bolts as it has opened up the east side of town. Half a million people now use it every day with numbers expected to rise further, and those benefits make the new line fully deserving of the community award. The line cuts a swathe through some of the most deprived areas of the capital so will bring enormous regeneration benefits in the long term too. This powerful new tool in the regeneration of east London toolbox is why it won the greatest contribution to London award too."

Scott White and Hookins designed and detailed 400 line-side signalling, power supply and communications installations, all to a tight programme. This involved site surveys, interfacing with the other disciplines and obtaining assurance approval for each structure. Installations included UTXs, REBs, LOCs, RRAPs, signal and gantry bases, electrical sub-stations, elevated steel platforms and retaining walls.

Leicester Civic Society declared the winning entries for the 2010 Civic Society Awards for Architecture, with the Percy Gee Building at the University of Leicester, scooping the award for 'New Build'.

The new Students' Union building was said by the panel to be; "an exciting new building constructed on an extremely difficult and sensitive site almost ringed by the listed buildings in the University Campus and the historic parkland of Welford Road Cemetery. The building is large and of a striking design yet manages to be almost unobtrusive in its setting. This is a difficult achievement for any architect or designer on such a site. The building is obviously new yet somehow looks as if it has always been there."

The Percy Gee transformation is the regeneration of a fifty year old building into an attractive modern, purposeful and environmentally friendly new Students' Union. It features a spectacular new atrium with communal social space for students. It greatly improves disabled access with an innovative design overcoming 26 different floor levels on a steeply sloping site. It transforms the approach to the campus and provides a major asset to the University.

Scott White and Hookins are proud to be associated with the award winning Anjulita Court Care Home in Bedford, built for Methodist Housing for the Aged.

The new build Care Home was designed by Tooley & Foster Partnership with Scott White and Hookins as Structural and Civil Engineers for the project. The Care Home was built by SDC Builders under a design and build contract.

The award (Elderly New Build - Less than 60 Beds) was recently presented at the Pinders Care Awards ceremony.

Pinders Healthcare Awards is the recognised care industry award for various categories of health and care buildings completed the previous year.

Scott White and Hookins are named as winners of the Infrastructure (Small Firm) category of the 2010 Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) Engineering Excellence Awards, held on 14th April 2010 at St Paul's Grange Hotel in London.

The award was for 'The Design of Retaining Walls at Stratford'. This was a design and build contract with contractor P J Carey in connection with a major development which consisted of around 1km of retaining walls and associated works.

The Judges cited "This project is a confident solution, innovative, and took a highly unusual use of material. For such a technically sensitive project this used an impressive solution from such a small company".

The practice was also shortlisted for the Buildings (Small Firm) category for our work at Beaufort Park, Bracknell.

The awards ceremony was presented by Declan Curry - journalist and broadcaster.

Scott White and Hookins walked away with an award for 'Vincent Building' at Cranfield University at the 2009 ACE Engineering Excellence Awards at a packed gala dinner event at the Victoria Park Plaza hotel in London on Wednesday 13 May 2009.

Hosted by broadcaster and journalist Nicky Campbell, the awards showcased consultancy and engineering firms who had demonstrated a high degree of achievement, value and engineering excellence over the previous 12 months. Speaking after the event Scott White and Hookins Partner - Jason Daniels commented 'we were delighted to win this award which is deserved by this project and the team that put it together.'

The Vincent Building is a new four-storey, fully glazed and contemporary laboratory block designed by Architect Sheppard Robson for Cranfield University.