Bennett Freehill are delighted that two iconic projects on which we provided M&E Services – South West College Erne Campus and Methodist College Old School House – have been shortlisted in this year’s RICS Social Impact Awards.
The SWC Erne Campus has been shortlisted in the Public Sector Project category. It is the world’s first educational, and currently the largest, Passive House Premium (PHP) rated building and the first in the UK to achieve both PHP and BREEAM Outstanding accreditations.
As an exemplar of a near Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB), this £34m, 8,000sqm project has been recognised as one of 26 UN Centres of Excellence for High Performance Buildings, ranking alongside the Apple 2 campus in California.
The Old School House at Methodist College, Belfast is a finalist in the Public Sector Project category and the Revitalisation/Refurbishment category of the awards. The refurbishment of this Grade B1 listed building, erected circa 1865 in the Queen’s Conservation Area, has given it a new lease of life and made it fit for modern purpose.
About the awards, Managing Director Cormac Freehill said:
We are thrilled that the RICS has recognised these two significant projects. Our designs provide environmental and energy efficiency benefits and set market leading standards. These two projects are exemplars of this. Congratulations to our hardworking talented team who focus on delivering technical excellence for clients, and to the project teams on both schemes.
Winners of this year’s regional awards will be announced across the RICS network on 18 May 2022. This will be followed by the RICS Awards Grand Final in London, which is the pinnacle of the awards and celebrates the best of the best from the regional awards.