BDP wins PM’s Better Public Building Award for third time

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool won the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award last night at the British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards.

BDP directors Benedict Zucchi, Ged Couser and Dominic Hook attended the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, and collected the prestigious award which recognises excellence in design quality as well as collaborative and effective team working for projects that are completed on time, on budget and bring real change to the community.

Professor Tim Broyd, ICE Vice President and BCIA judge, commented: “This is public building at its very best. The innovative, groundbreaking project involved the true integration of engineering and architecture, relying on a huge amount of collaboration between the partners involved.”

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Ben Gummer, said: “Alder Hey is a great example of how to transform public services in an innovative and cost effective way.”

“If we’ve seen it before, it’s not for us” was the challenge set by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, which called for a unique paediatric environment that together with adjacent Springfield Park, would form an integrated Children’s Health Park. Its hilly, undulating profile has made the new building instantly recognisable, even from a distance: a striking identity that stands in deliberate contrast to the typical idea of a hospital and the institutional nature of the building which it replaces.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital was also shortlisted in the Major Building Project of the Year and Community Engagement categories. The BDP designed Victoria Station in Manchester was shortlisted for Civil Engineering Project of the Year.

This is the third time a BDP designed project has won the top accolade at the BCI Awards. In 2003 Bournemouth Library won the prize, followed by the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton in 2008.