Johnstone Town Hall named Project of the Year at RICS Awards 2016

15 Apr 2016

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Johnstone Town Hall

Johnstone Town Hall in Renfrewshire has received the coveted Project of the Year Award at the RICS Scotland Awards 2016.

The town hall is an iconic £14.5 million modern facility delivering integrated services for the community and was also recognised for its positive impact in local area taking the Community Benefit category award.

Held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh yesterday, the RICS annual awards celebrate inspirational initiatives across the built environment. The Project of the Year Award is presented to the project which has been judged overall as an excellent example of best practice by professionals working in both the built and natural environments.

Chair of RICS Scotland judging panel, Colin Smith MRICS, said: “Johnstone Town Hall embraces the very essence of the RICS Property Awards. Not only does the project deliver a town hall which exceeds expectations, its design forms a well-mannered civic intervention which complements the local heritage and acts as a catalyst for wider investment in Johnstone’s town centre regeneration. The project team demonstrated an exceptional procurement methodology and from its very inception there was a real focus on exhausting all opportunities to engage with the community.”

The building, delivered by Renfrewshire Council in partnership with development partner hub West Scotland, is a flexible contemporary space providing a range of facilities including a library, theatre space, marriage suite, café and meeting rooms. The town hall also offers a range of council services alongside community partners Police Scotland and Macmillan Cancer Support under one roof.

Eight additional category winners were selected from shortlisted entries from across Scotland. Other winners included Borders Railway, which took the Infrastructure award, Lews Castle, Stornoway, which received the Building Conservation award and The Helix & The Kelpies which received the Tourism and Leisure accolade.

All category winners will now automatically be entered in to the UK RICS Awards Grand Final, to be held at The Park Lane, London in October 2016, where they will compete against projects from across the rest of the UK.

Sarah Speirs, director at RICS Scotland, added: “RICS Awards in Scotland have continued to grow in quality, volume and stature. The high quality of entries from Scotland continue to gain national recognition at our Grand Final in London, with Advocate’s Close in Edinburgh receiving the UK Project of the Year Award 2015, and this success is sure to continue looking at the projects we have seen this year.

“I would like to congratulate all category winners and our Project of Year, which is a fine example of how building projects can provide real benefit for the local and wider community.”

The Awards are sponsored by British Gas, NHBC Scotland, Wise Property Care, Forbo Flooring Systems, Sika Liquid Plastics and Colleys.

The full list of winners include: