Two of the three awards presented for successful projects were for jobs outside the province, with M&L Contracts and McLaughlin & Harvey recognised for work in Scotland and Moore Concrete for the largest precast overfill arch in the world.
The awards – presented at 49th Annual Dinner of the Concrete Society Northern Ireland Region – also recognised the extensive use of concrete at the Generic Ward Block at the Ulster Hospital by the GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership and Northstone, with the Innovation/Technology Award reflective of the forward-thinking nature of the industry. This accolade was presented to Lagan Cement Products for the development of a unique app.
Brian Curtis, Chairman of the Concrete Society Northern Ireland Region, said, “Firstly, I want to congratulate all the winners. This year was one of the toughest to judge and, such was the quality of entries that we decided to separate the Building and Civil Engineering Award into two separate categories.
“From next year we also hope to enter our winners into the UK Concrete Society Awards. We certainly have the quality and, given the scale of some of the projects, there is no reason why we can’t see Northern Ireland companies being successful on a UK level.”
Brian was also keen to recognise the support of the award sponsors and the committee.
“These events don’t happen unless we have the support of sponsors and the industry. We are indebted to everyone who has backed us, in particular Lafarge Cement who sponsored all the Concrete Awards; Premier Cement who sponsored the Student Awards, and Lagan Cement Products and Quinn Building Products who sponsored the wine for the event and the Chairman’s Reception respectively.” he added. “Our committee are all volunteers and work tirelessly to promote the concrete industry; they should all be congratulated for another great event.”
As well as a wide cross-section of the concrete industry, the awards night was also attended by representatives of a number of leading bodies, including the Construction Employers Federation, CIHT, Irish Concrete Society, RSUA, ICE NI, CIOB and QPANI. Special guests from the Concrete Society included National President Designate, Martyn Fear; Director of Technical Services, Richard Daly; and Chairman of the Concrete Society Scottish Region, Colin Reid.
2016 CONCRETE SOCIETY NORTHERN REGION AWARDS 2015
BUILDING AWARD
WINNER
- GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership and Northstone for the Generic Ward Block, Ulster Hospital, Belfast.
FINALIST
- McLaughlin & Harvey and Mott MacDonald for Block BB, University of Ulster, Belfast Campus.
CIVIL ENGINEERING AWARD
WINNER
- M&L Contracts Ltd and McLaughlin & Harvey for A82 Pulpit Rock, Loch Lomond.
FINALIST
- McLaughlin & Harvey and RPS for the Teesport Berth 1 reconstruction.
PRECAST CONCRETE AWARD
WINNER
- Moore Concrete for the Milestone Canal Bridge, Heysham.
FINALISTS
- McLaughlin & Harvey and RPS for the moored subsea foundation system.
- Gilbert-Ash and Creagh Concrete for Windsor Walk Arches, London.
INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY AWARD
WINNER
- Lagan Cement Products in association with Command Alkon for the MOBILEcommerce App.
FINALISTS
- ACOL Ltd and McFarland Associates Ltd for the façade restoration of the Shelbourne Hotel.
- PJ Hegarty and McFarland Associated Ltd for the restoration of the reinforced concrete dome at Four Courts Building, Dublin.
- Creagh Concrete for the Spantherm Flooring System.
- Acheson & Glover Precast Ltd for the use of renewable energy to cure concrete components.
