The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors are delighted to announce the RICS Project of the Year 2018, North East — the Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) plant in Newton Aycliffe – along with the winners and highly commended for the RICS Awards 2018, North East.
Over 55 of the North East’s most impressive and community beneficial property schemes battled it out for top honours at the annual RICS Awards, North East. Veteran BBC TV news presenter, Alex Lovell hosted this year’s ceremony – supported by headline sponsor, Sika Sarnafil – held at the Marriott Hotel, Gosforth Park in Newcastle on 20th April.
Project of the Year — Hitachi Rail Europe, Darlington (sponsored by Ward Hadaway)
The highly acclaimed ‘Project of the Year’ title is presented to the scheme which demonstrates overall outstanding best practice and an exemplary commitment to adding value to its local area. Not only does the Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) plant facility build and deliver a new generation of high speed passenger trains, it also provides an important import and export facility and has helped return train manufacturing back to the North East.
RICS judges praised the project team – including Merchant Place Developments, Shepherd Construction and Ryder Architecture – for what they described as an outstanding and remarkable facility that is acting as a catalyst for further regeneration in the area. It has also brought much needed employment opportunities to the area, creating over 1,200 directly employed by HRE, whilst a further 8,000 further jobs have been created within the supply chain.
