New Barbara Hepworth Building wins major awards

The £30m structure was named the Building Project of the Year and won its category at the Northern Design Awards

THE University of Huddersfield’s £30 million Barbara Hepworth Building was completed and opened less than six months ago, but has already garnered three awards for its design, construction, educational vision and contribution to the local community.  The awards include the prestigious national title, Building Project of the Year, won in the face of stiff competition.

Featuring dramatic cantilevered upper floors in a canalside location, the building is the new home for students in the School of Art, Design and Architecture.

After being named as the Yorkshire and Humberside winner of the regional round of the annual awards scheme, run by the organisation Constructing Excellence, the Barbara Hepworth Building then joined a nine-strong nationwide shortlist for Building Project of the Year.

The new addition to the University of Huddersfield’s campus was up against major projects that included the BBC’s headquarters in Cardiff and the new London premises for multi-national financial services company Deloitte.  A large judging panel of construction industry professionals and other experts chose the Barbara Hepworth as winner of its category.

The announcement was made at a Constructing Excellence ceremony that took place at London’s Marriott Grosvenor Hotel.  The trophy was collected on stage by representatives of the University of Huddersfield plus the architects AHR, project managers Gleads and the construction firm, Morgan Sindall, that erected the remarkable building, now a landmark in the town.

“Now a building where designers are taught has received a design award!  The Barbara Hepworth Building was designed to encourage inter-disciplinary teaching and collaboration, in effect, this building is a learning tool for the students and a lot of the surfaces are exposed so students can see how it is built.  They can be taught by the building.”

Tim Hosker, University’s Assistant Director of Estates and Facilities

Soon after the Constructing Excellence success, the Barbara Hepworth Building also won its category in the 17th edition of the annual Northern Design Awards, and was singled out from a shortlist of six that included innovative educational and commercial premises.

The award was presented at a Manchester ceremony by representatives of the Royal Institute of British Architects, which had helped to judge the entries.

The University’s Tim Hosker is delighted by the awards success.  He pointed out that while the Northern Design Awards were purely concerned with external design aspects, the Constructing Excellence awards – regional and national – also recognised wider factors.

These included the construction challenges posed by the terrain and canalside location, plus issues such as corporate social responsibility and local engagement – 31 per cent of the budget spent on the work was with firms and suppliers based within ten miles of the University.