South West College’s Erne Campus, which opened its doors to students in September 2021, has received further international acclaim winning both Public Sector Project and UK Project of the year prizes at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors awards in London recently. The campus had previously received the regional title for Northern Ireland earlier in the year.
The awards recognise the most outstanding building projects from across the United Kingdom and particularly those buildings which demonstrate a significant positive impact on the communities they serve. The Erne Campus was nominated for the RICS awards by Hamilton Architects and was chosen on the basis of its impressive sustainability credentials which will yield an anticipated 90% reduction in energy costs, following a site visit by the judging panel.
Celebrating the awards announced, Celine McCartan, Chief Executive of South West College added:
‘This award by the RICS is something that could have only been imagined when the plans for this campus building were developed. The commitment, dedication and hard work of everyone involved in the planning, design and construction of the Erne Campus is reflected in these awards, as is the vision of the Department for the Economy who have invested not only in a world-class building but in the futures of thousands of students in our region. I want to thank most sincerely everyone involved.’
‘The Erne Campus is a tremendous asset for Enniskillen and the wider region and as we continue to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic we want to share this building with our community. I am delighted to announce that the campus team will host a series of guided tours, beginning on Friday 11th November. Tours will run on a monthly basis for the remainder of the 2022/2023 academic year and these are open to all. We want the public to see for themselves why this building is so special and why now is the perfect time to consider enrolling in one of our full or part-time courses’
Outlining their choice of the Erne Campus as the project of the year winner, the RICS awards judging panel said;
The vision and its subsequent delivery of this project is a fascinating story in itself. Suffice to say that given local, regional, national and international difficulties over the development period it got built as a result of strong, local and later regional support.
“More importantly for our awards, it represents an exemplar of how despite many obstacles that it needed to overcome, the project also scores highly in the social value. Not only has it generated a centre for excellence for local students of the built environment as a core curriculum subject, it has also raised the profile and the pride in all its inhabitants and neighbours in an area.”
For further information and to register for one of the upcoming guided tours of the Erne Campus please see below.