Darnton B3, Architects of the new Airedale International Air Conditioning building in Rawdon, Leeds, won the regional ‘Design through innovation’ category of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards.
Regarded as the premier property and construction Awards in the country, RICS bring together the most innovative projects across the UK, and awards the very best entries across eight categories.
Following the fire of 2013, the Airedale facility required a complete demolition and rebuild, with minimal disruption to business. The 23,000m2 £40 million project, took 64 weeks to complete, and has resulted in a brand new, state of the art facility, which includes the manufacturing plant, offices, and an industry leading research and development laboratory; providing robust testing of a range of systems from -20 to +50 degrees centigrade.
“The impressive new research and development facilities allow one of Yorkshire’s premier manufacturers to continue to lead the world market in their industry.” said the RICS judges of the award.
“The judges were impressed with Darnton B3’s innovative approach to using Building Information Modelling (BIM), allowing off-site manufacture and fast track installation of building services, dramatically cutting the construction programme.”
On the RICS Award, Tony Cole, Managing Director of Airedale International Air Conditioning commented, “By working with Darnton B3 and BAM Construction, we have a class-leading facility which is reflective of our ethos of innovation, performance and efficiency. Rated as BREEAM ‘Very Good’ the site is sustainable and sympathetic to the surrounding region. It allows us to continue to grow business operations at home and abroad. It also promotes employee wellbeing, flooding spaces with natural daylight and stunning views.
The project has taken a lot of effort from everyone involved. Darnton B3 created an excellent project team and understood our ‘hands on’ style throughout. They brought peace of mind from day one and have delivered a facility where we can conceptualise, produce, innovate, and inspire. We are delighted the project is getting the recognition it deserves, ‘designed through innovation’.”
Keith Hardcastle, Director at Darnton B3 added, “We are delighted to receive recognition for this outstanding project, where we had the opportunity to reflect Airedale’s world class manufacturing into a building designed to meet their high standards. Collaboration was integral, and we are thrilled the trust they placed in us has resulted in an award of this calibre and a high quality project. The facility reflects forward and future thinking in terms of innovative production, process, research and office design. As Architects and project managers, we are very proud.”
Airedale and Darnton B3, along with the other seven Yorkshire and Humber category winners, will now compete with winners from 11 other regions at the RICS Awards final at London’s InterContinental Hotel on November 2, 2017.
For more information, visit www.airedale.com.
