Celebrating Excellence at the 2026 National Constructing Excellence Awards
The 20th National Constructing Excellence Awards took place on Friday 6th November, bringing together industry leaders and innovators for an unforgettable evening of celebration. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the event so special, especially our wonderful sponsors.
These prestigious awards honour outstanding achievements across the built environment in England and Wales, showcasing the regional winners across a range of categories. We were proud to recognise the remarkable contributions of our 15 category winners, along with 8 highly commended projects that exemplify excellence and innovation.
The Constructing Excellence Awards continue to play a vital role in driving performance and inspiring progress across the sector. This year’s winners reflect a powerful story of collaboration, creativity, and continuous improvement happening throughout the construction industry. We’re thrilled to celebrate the exceptional work shaping the future of our built environment.
Sponsors
National Awards Winners 2026
G4C Future Leader
Alanis Burgess
Region: North East
Organisation: P+HS Architects
Alanis is an emerging built environment leader whose work connects architectural practice, research, and professional leadership. Alongside her role at P+HS Architects, she champions inclusive, evidence-led design and has become a nationally recognised voice on gender equity in planning. Her research has informed RIBA policy, been published and presented nationally and internationally, and she currently serves as Chair of the RIBA Young Architects and Professionals Forum, helping shape the future of the profession and supporting the next generation of industry leaders.
Integration & Collaborative Working
Digital Life, Teesside University
Region: North East
Organisations: Wates Construction, Teesside University, Gardiner & Theobald, Hawkins Brown, Billinghurst George & Partners, Desco and One Environments
Digital Life is a £41.4m flagship research and teaching hub for Teesside University, providing world-class facilities for AI, robotics and cybersecurity. Delivered through a highly collaborative partnership between Wates, Hawkins\Brown and their specialist supply chain, the project demonstrates the benefits of a true “one team” approach. Early supply chain engagement, open-book risk management and shared problem-solving helped overcome complex technical challenges, accelerate delivery and support innovations such as HP SitePrint robotics. The project also achieved perfect Considerate Constructors Scheme scores and ambitious sustainability targets, highlighting the success of its integrated delivery model.
People & Culture
Baxall Construction
Region: London & the South East
Delivering Value
Digital Life, Teesside University
Region: North East
Organisations: Wates Construction, Teesside University, Gardiner & Theobald, Hawkins Brown, Billinghurst George & Partners, Desco and One Environments
Innovation
HALO: Engineering Low-Carbon, Circular and High Performance Roads
Region: North West
Organisations: Huyton Asphalt, HA Civils
HALO is a pioneering innovation programme from Huyton Asphalt, designed to tackle some of the highways sector’s biggest challenges, including carbon reduction, resource efficiency and faster project delivery. Through its proprietary suite of sustainable materials, low and zero-emission plant, and digital optimisation tools, Huyton Asphalt has delivered a range of UK and European firsts. Innovations such as HALO BIO FastPave have achieved significant reductions in material carbon, whole-project emissions and construction time, while the use of circular materials, electric equipment and alternative fuels is helping drive a more sustainable approach to highways delivery. Together, these innovations demonstrate a scalable, research-led framework for improving carbon performance, productivity and long-term asset outcomes.
Regeneration & Conservation
Flat Holm: A Walk Through Time
Region: Wales
Organisations: Knox & Wells, WSP UK Ltd, Cardiff Council, CMS Group, Lottery Heritage Fund
Flat Holm: A Walk Through Time is a remarkable conservation project that rescued two historic island landmarks from imminent collapse. Working within the logistical challenges of a remote, tide-locked island and a protected natural environment, the team carefully stabilised and restored the Victorian Cholera Hospital and the Edwardian Foghorn Station while preserving their historic character. Through sensitive repairs and conservation-led interventions, both structures were secured, protected from further deterioration and reopened to the public, ensuring these important heritage assets can continue to tell their stories for generations to come.
SME of the Year
Thames Valley Construction & Civil Engineering Ltd
Region: Wales
Thames Valley Construction & Civil Engineering Ltd is a South Wales-based contractor delivering complex construction and civil engineering projects across the region. Combining the capability of a larger contractor with the responsiveness of an SME, the business has built a reputation for safety, quality and long-term client relationships. Guided by its philosophy of”Safety, Quality, Production – in that order”, Thames Valley invests heavily in its people through apprenticeships, leadership development and wellbeing initiatives while supporting local communities through what it calls the”Regeneration Ripple” effect. This focus on people, performance and community impact has helped the company remain resilient through industry challenges while continuing to create lasting social and economic value.
Building Safety
Broste Rivers Group
Broste Rivers Group Ltd has responded to the evolving building safety landscape by creating a connected model that brings together building control, consultancy, regulatory approval and accessibility services. Rather than treating the Building Safety Act as a compliance exercise, the Group has used it as a catalyst for organisational change, investing in professional competence, governance, digital systems and workforce development. Through its integrated approach, Broste Rivers Group Ltd is helping to improve transparency, strengthen regulatory compliance and support safer outcomes across both the public and private sectors, while developing the next generation of building safety professionals.
Sustainability
Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Hospital
Region: North West
Organisations: Integrated Health Projects (joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine), Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust, Ecospheric, AHR, Waterman Group, Alan Johnston Partnership, Dalkia, Cohesion Piling and Mayo Civils
Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Hospital is a pioneering healthcare project that has set a new benchmark for sustainable hospital design. Delivered by VINCI through its joint venture IHP, the facility is the UK’s first hospital certified under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, combining an all-electric design with significant reductions in operational and embodied carbon. Through the use of offsite manufacturing, low-carbon materials, advanced digital modelling and innovative engineering solutions, the project achieved a 25% reduction in embodied carbon and an estimated 5,600-tonne lifetime carbon saving. Designed to go beyond compliance, it demonstrates how sustainable construction can deliver lasting environmental benefits while creating a national blueprint for future healthcare facilities.
Residential Project of the Year
No 1 Ancoats Green (Rodney Street)
Region: North West
Organisations: Wates, This City – Manchester City Council, Buttress Architects, Curtins, Method Consulting, Ameon, Peter Warm
No. 1 Ancoats Green (Rodney Street) is a transformative £40.3m residential development and the flagship project for This City, Manchester City Council’s housing development company. Built on a long-vacant brownfield site, the scheme delivers 129 high-quality homes designed to create a diverse and inclusive community while helping address the city’s housing needs. Combining environmental performance with affordability, it is the largest AECB-accredited residential development to date, achieving a 70% carbon reduction through Passivhaus principles and a fabric-first approach. The project also includes 30% of homes at Manchester Living Rent, demonstrating how sustainable, low-carbon housing can be delivered alongside genuine social value and urban affordability.
Retrofit
Spitfire Hangar, Brabazon
Region: South West
Organisations: Ferguson Mann Architects, YTL Developments UK Ltd, Stantec and Grant Associates
Spitfire Hangar, Brabazon has transformed a deteriorating Grade II listed aviation building into a vibrant community hub for North Bristol, bringing new life to a rare piece of twentieth-century industrial heritage. The retrofit carefully balanced the preservation of historic features with modern performance upgrades, creating a low-energy, adaptable space for community, cultural and commercial use. Retaining and repairing as much of the original structure as possible, the project achieved a predicted 97% reduction in emissions while safeguarding the building’s unique character. Open to the public for the first time in its history, the hangar is already delivering significant social and economic benefits for the growing Brabazon community.
Client of the Year
Wye Valley NHS Trust
Region: West Midlands
Wye Valley NHS Trust is a pioneering integrated healthcare provider serving communities across Herefordshire and Powys, combining acute, community and adult social care services within a single organisation. The Trust has demonstrated exceptional client leadership through a major capital investment programme, delivering new healthcare facilities in partnership with its project teams while championing collaboration, innovation and long-term value. Renowned for its hands-on “one team” culture, Wye Valley NHS Trust places quality, patient outcomes and future resilience at the heart of decision-making, while embracing modern methods of construction and sustainable delivery to create lasting benefits for patients, staff and the wider community.
Social Impact
Sensory Garden at Leo Kelly Hospital School
Region: North West
Organisations: Equans Services Ltd, Speedy Hire, Kenny Waste Management, Hindle Construction, Jewsons, Tiger Supplies, Travis Perkins, EWI, SSE, Equans Regeneration Ltd, Manchester City Council, J Parkers, Taurus, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Royal Horticultural Society, Cheltenham Green Civils, Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service
Sensory Garden at Leo Kelly Hospital School was a collaborative social impact initiative led by Equans in partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, schools, charities and supply chain partners. Designed to improve inclusion, skills and employability for young people with vision impairment, the project combined workplace experience, horticultural learning and the co-creation of a sensory garden for pupils at Leo Kelly Hospital School. Through hands-on design and construction activities, students developed confidence, teamwork and practical skills while making a positive difference for others. Delivered with support from more than 120 volunteers and 23 partner organisations, the project created lasting educational, social and community benefits while giving participants a genuine sense of ownership and achievement.
Infrastructure Project of the Year
Keel Crossing, Sunderland
Region: North East
Organisations: VolkerStevin Infrastructure Limited, Sunderland City Council, Arup and Knights
Keel Crossing, Sunderland is a £46m landmark bridge project at the heart of the Riverside Sunderland regeneration masterplan, providing a high-level pedestrian and cycle link across the River Wear. Overcoming significant engineering and site constraints, the project has created a vital connection between the city centre, the Sheepfolds neighbourhood and the Stadium of Light, while encouraging active travel and supporting long-term economic growth. Delivered through a highly collaborative partnership between VolkerStevin, Arup and Sunderland City Council, the project combined innovative engineering, early contractor involvement and integrated teamworking to achieve completion ahead of schedule, creating a blueprint for the delivery of complex infrastructure projects.
Building Project of the Year
Hill Dickinson Stadium
Region: North West
Organisations: Everton Stadium Development Ltd, Laing O’Rourke, BDP Pattern, Buro Happold, Planit-ie, Curtins, Severfield, Lidner Prater, Expanded Structures, Crown House Technologies, Enterprise Solutions, Vetter, Banagher Precast Concrete, G&T, RLB, Slaughter & May
Hill Dickinson Stadium is a £610m landmark development that has transformed the historic Bramley-Moore Dock into a world-class 52,000-seat stadium for Everton Stadium Development Limited. Delivered by Laing O’Rourke, the project combined collaborative delivery, industrialised construction and advanced digital technologies to achieve high levels of productivity, safety and sustainability. Extensive offsite manufacturing and digitally enabled planning helped drive programme certainty and quality, while the project generated significant social value through local employment, skills development and community engagement. Delivered ahead of programme and on budget, the stadium provides a new benchmark for large-scale stadium construction in the UK.
National Awards Highly Commended 2026
- G4C Future Leader- Mohamed Gheit – SCP (Yorkshire & Humber)
- People & Culture- Esh Group (North East)
- Innovation- MGL Group (North East)
- SME of the Year- Neville Special Projects Ltd (East of England)
- Social Impact- Equans Equip at HMP Deerbolt – Equans (North East)
- Building Safety- BESA – Building Safety Starts with Client Leadership
- Infrastructure Project of the Year- Bristol Airport Public Transport Interchange- GriffithsFarrans JV and Bristol Airport (South West)
- Building Project of the Year- Brook Mead Academy- Wates Construction, DfE, Mott MacDonald, LSI Architects, HSP Consulting, Commercial Services Design, Ares Landscape Architects and AKS Ward Ltd (East Midlands)
Thank You to Our Supporters and Sponsors
We are incredibly grateful to all our members for their continued support and active participation in the Constructing Excellence Awards programme.
A huge thank you to everyone who played a part in making this year’s event such a success. Your contributions help the awards grow in impact and reach year after year. We’re especially thankful to our sponsors, whose generous support enables us to deliver a truly memorable celebration of excellence in the built environment.
We also extend our appreciation to our fantastic panel of judges, who kindly gave their time and expertise to help us select this year’s winners. Your dedication is vital to the integrity and prestige of the awards.
Together, you make these awards possible—and we couldn’t do it without you.
Get Involved
We warmly invite you to take part in the Constructing Excellence Awards 2027 and showcase your achievements, innovations, and impact within the built environment.
To enter, start by submitting your application to your regional awards programme. Regional winners will then progress to the National Awards, where we’ll celebrate the very best across England and Wales. We’d love to see your work represented among next year’s finalists and winners!
Further information on regional entry dates and how to apply will be available shortly. For any further enquiries or support, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
