North Wales Building Awards 2008

A successful evening was held at the St David's Park Hotel Ewloe on Friday the 14th March. The invited guest speaker for the evening was Mr Trevor Martin  ( Chief Building Control Officer - Belfast City Council and past President of LABC )

Awards were given in seven different catagories, the Regional winners and County winners were as follows :-

 

Wrexham County Borough Council

Category Winners

Small Housebuilder
1-10 units

3 Grove Road
Wrexham

Birchmere Homes

This is an high specification secluded development in the heart of Wrexham that makes the best use of space available to provide four individual properties. The development consisted of 2 semi detached properties sympathetically designed as the location was to the rear of an existing established building. The whole area surrounding the development has been sympathetically landscaped to take account of the setting i.e. Dwarf walls, fenced areas and soft landscaping to create a pleasant surrounding for visitors and the dwelling occupiers. The main contractor was local to Wrexham with many years experience and had extremely effective site management, which was consistent throughout the project and helped achieve recognition in terms of health and safety, storage of materials, tidiness of site and the high standard of quality workmanship.  Effective co-ordination of program of works enabled the site management to give required notice for inspections and for the site to be ready for the Building Control Surveyor's site visits. The clever use of space resulted in a very secluded and private development within minutes of the heart of Wrexham town centre and has easily achieved 'Built In Quality' for the customer.

Small Housebuilder
1-10 units

Mount Onnen
Brymbo
Wrexham

S G Estates

This local developer has constructed four 4 bedroom detached houses to a excellent standard, the developer requested statutory inspections at regular intervals and workmanship to an excellent standard. The houses consisted of facing brickwork with tiled roofs in a residential location.

SG Estates maintained consistent team working throughout the development. A site record book was well maintained on every visit with work presented to a completed satisfactory standard. The site was well presented from a health and safety aspect and kept clean and tidy. The site has a large oak tree with a Tree preservation order in place, SG estates maintained secure fencing around the tree and kept within council guidelines throughout the project.

SG estates have taken great pride in this project and we look forward to working together in the future.

Volume Housebuilder
over 10 units

Drill Hall Court
Llay
Wrexham

Michael Neild Homes Ltd

A development of 12 houses on a cul de sac site, facing brickwork dwellings with a tile roof. The developer has consistency for requesting statutory inspections and maintaining an excellent standard of workmanship on site. Good teamwork has been demonstrated throughout the development and site management efficiency.

Site safety was always in place with signage at the entrance and operatives wearing personal protective equipment. Waste of materials was kept to a minimum on site and a clean safe site maintained. The developer was prompt providing any information required and worked to the site record book on site. The developer has joined up in our partnership scheme recently and we look forward to good team working in the future. The final result was an excellent development finished to a high quality standard.

Conversion

Ebenezer Chapel
Cefn Mawr
Wrexham

R L Davies & Son Ltd

This year long renovation, conversion and extension of a dilapidated and vandalised chapel was part of a £3.5 million townscape heritage initiative funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, Heritage Lottery Fund, CADW and the Welsh Development Agency. The original chapel was at the centre of the local community for more than 100 years. Congregations dwindled over the years with the chapel holding its last service nearly 20 years ago. Subsequently the chapel fell into disrepair. Now the chapel is back at the centre of the community again as a stylish cafe bar with spacious offices and function room.

Many features have been retained and restored including the ornate ceiling and stained glass windows. As well as restoring many period features, new 21st century features have been incorporated into the scheme such as futuristic glass lift, staircase and walkways. To make the building as environmentally sustainable as possible, solar panels have been installed on its roof providing 75% of the hot water and contributing to the buildings under-floor heating.

The main contractor, RL Davies of Colwyn Bay worked extremely well with Wrexham County Borough Council Building Control department, regularly requesting inspections, which were always ready and completed to a high standard of workmanship. A fully compliant building has been successfully completed and Local Authority Building Control look forward to working again with this developer in the near future.

Sustainable Development

Victoria Gardens
Gerald Street
Wrexham

Gower Homes Ltd

A residential development of 22 dwellings just on the edge of the town centre, 3 storey type dwellings set around a existing pond that has been cleaned out and water planting reinstated to preserve the water.

This development has a very good BREAM rating and demonstrated sustainable urban drainage setting an example for future developments. The drainage plan for the site has included the surface water to discharge into the pond using a sustainable approach.

The pond area has been used as a site feature to enhance the ecology of the area. The site management took great care preserving the site while under construction utilising fencing and site procedures implemented.

Apartments/Other Residential

Pentre Bach
Ruthin Road
Wrexham

Redrow Homes Ltd

This new development of apartments and houses on one the central roads into Wrexham is an excellent example of Local Authority Building Control in partnership with a major Housebuilder. The proposed development consisted of 138 new dwellings and 4 apartment blocks. The Council's Building Control department was involved throughout all stages of the scheme from inception to completion. The main contractor ensured inspections were requested at all key stages, that work was ready for inspection on site for the arrival of the Building Control Surveyor, the quality of the work carried out meant that few contravention's occurred but those that did were rectified quickly. A good relationship with Wrexham Building Control and Redrow site management ensured the development of the site occurred at efficient pace and was an excellent example of how a large scale housing development can be run in partnership with the local authority.

SMALL DOMESTIC CATEGORY - Sponsored by TEN ALPS Publishing

   
Regional Winner - Site address :- Penesgynfa, Llanfachraeth, Dolgellau
                             Developer :- A G Day
This development comprises of a complete renovation and extension of a small two storey, two bedroomed 16th century dwelling. It comprised the total redesign and re-timbering of a very complicated roof structure for the whole building and also an extension of the existing building. Any original feature left within the building were sympathetically renovated back to their original state.

County winners - Alex Johnson for first floor extension at
                           24 Canon Way, Higher Kinnerton, Bretton.

                           Bryn Jones for a small house exyension at
                           2 Cae Glas, Trefynant, Denbigh.   

CONVERSION CATEGORY - Sponsored by BARBOUR


Regional Winner - Site address :- The Management Suite, U.C.N.W., Bangor
                             Developer :- Operon
This project covered the internal renovation of four buildings as well as the external renovation. Four glazed escape staircases were built - one for each building. The work undertaken were of the highest quality, with Building Control involved from the pre-application stage through to regular site meetings to resolve constructional issues.

County winners -  R L Davies and Son Ltd for the renovation and adaption of
                            Ebenezer Chapel, Cefn Mawr, Wrexham.
    
                            Salopian Ltd for the conversion of outbuildings to business units at
                            Well House Barns, Flintshire

                            Harris Homes Ltd for the conversion of outbuildings to dwellings at
                            The Carriage Yard, Llewenni, Denbigh.

                            Evan A Owen for the conversion of a Grade II listed windmill at
                            Melin y Bont, Bryn Du, Ynys Mon.