Cartrefi wins 'Building Excellence' award for 'Public Buildings'

Andrea Morse, Chair of the Gwalia Board, collecting the award Tai Cartrefi were celebrating last Friday after walking away with the ‘Public Buildings’ prize in the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) ‘Building Excellence’ Awards 2008 at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium. The student accommodation built at Swansea University impressed the judges and the unique buildings gained the recognition that they deserved. The awards are a national initiative that highlight good building practice and aim to reward projects that go above and beyond the minimum building control requirements.

In 2004, the Cartrefi halls of residence in Swansea University were highly commended in the ‘Built in Quality Awards.’ Five years on and Tai Cartrefi have impressed judges again with innovative architectural designs provided by PCKO Architects and Cowlin Construction. The prize winning building comprises of two blocks, ‘Penmaen’ which includes 272 en-suite study bedrooms and ‘Horton’ which has 79 en-suite study bedrooms.

Swansea Campus Buildings, Phase 2 Tai Cartrefi will automatically go forward to the LABC Cymru Building Excellence Awards which are being held in the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff on the 3^rd April 2009. They will be competing against the winners of 13 Authorities within the region.

Gwalia is pleased that they have gained recognition for its student accommodation. Michael Williams, Chief Executive of Grup Gwalia said “Working in partnership with Swansea University we have produced two iconic buildings on Swansea Campus providing 351 students with modern comfortable energy efficient accommodation together with offices and commercial units for the University itself. This development is the third stage of the redevelopment of the accommodation on the Campus and represents the conclusion of a £30 million investment in student accommodation by Cartrefi and the University."