The QE2 Mile voted one of top local projects of 2011
13 June 2011
Southampton’s QE2 Mile has won 3rd place in the Major Projects Award category of the 2011 ICE South Engineering Excellence Awards.
The QE2 Mile project demonstrates how a focus on high quality, innovation and consultation can bring fantastic results; and how, by liaising closely with everyone affected, schemes can be delivered with neither harm nor disruption to public and business life. Not a single complaint was received, or health and safety incident recorded during the three years of QE2 Mile works. Southampton’s city centre has come alive since completion of the QE2 Mile scheme. The city’s main north-south thoroughfare – renamed the QE2 Mile to inspire civic pride – has been reinvigorated with a ‘sequence of memorable places’, created with excellence in planning, design and construction. The city centre is a more pleasant place to be and both public and business have voted favourably with their feet. Footfall is up and £50M of investment has been recorded since the project started – a good return on the £11.2M investment.
Southampton City College won 2nd place in the Major Projects Award category. The College is an architecturally striking further education college development, incorporating an innovative refurbishment of an existing 1960s block in to a modern facility with sustainable design features. The scheme provided a major upgrade to the further education provision in the city, with 80% of the site now comprising of new purpose built facilities to deliver the vocational curriculum and was delivered on a sensitive city centre brownfield site adjacent to a Grade II listed church. The project incorporates four state-of-the-art education buildings and the refurbishment of the existing college buildings. These include a 19th Century Work House and a 1970’s reinforced concrete framed structure.
RNLI Bembridge Lifeboat Station on the Isle of Wight was named Overall Winner at the 2011 Awards, the highest honour for engineering projects in West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Nine projects were recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), with awards going to road repair works in Hampshire, a gas works remediation project in Aldershot and improvements to Winchester High Street.
John Laverty, Director of ICE South East England, said:
“All of the winning projects highlight the important contribution that engineers make to our way of life – from improving transport links and public spaces to powering our homes and defending communities from the risks of living along the coast.
“Infrastructure projects such as these support quality of life in the region and are vital for economic recovery and regeneration. I congratulate all the project teams on their success.”
Award categories include: Major Projects, for schemes with a build cost of over £5 million; Small Projects, recognising the unique challenges facing projects with lower budgets; and Community Benefit, celebrating projects that have had a positive impact on the local area. A top award is given to the best project in the region overall.
All entries were required to have been substantially completed in the last year. Judgements were based on criteria such as creativity and innovation, sustainability and environmental sensitivity and benefits to the client and wider public.
The 2011 ICE South Engineering Excellence Awards recipients were:
Overall Winner of the ICE South Branch Engineering Excellence Awards:
RNLI Bembridge Lifeboat Station
Major Projects Award
Winner: Operation Restore
2nd place: Southampton City College
3rd place: The QE2 Mile
Small Projects Award
Winner: NGPH North Close, Aldershot
2nd place: RNLI Shoreham Lifeboat Station
3rd place: Longparish Materials Recovery Facility
Community Benefit Award
Winner: Winchester High Street Repaving Scheme
2nd place: South Winchester Park and Ride
For further information:
Contact: Francesca King, ICE External Relations Executive
Tel: 020 7665 2360
Email:francesca.king@ice.org.uk
