Hamilton Sweeps The Board At RICS Awards

An NI company, Hamilton Architects and its associate practice Kriterion Conservation Architects have won a total of five coveted Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards in as many days.

At the RICS Northern Ireland Awards ceremony on 17 May 2011, Hamilton Architects received four accolades for the Crescent Arts Centre and the Pier Head Ferry Terminal in Liverpool, whilst Kriterion Conservation Architects was commended for its work on the Antrim Courthouse.

These are Northern Ireland's most prestigious awards which celebrate excellence in the built environment and highlight the outstanding standard of work produced by local building professionals.

The historic Crescent Arts Centre received three RICS accolades: The distinguished and esteemed Project of the Year prize, Winner in the Community Benefit category and Highly Commended in the Building Conservation category. The Crescent Arts Centre will now go forward to the International RICS Awards which culminate in a grand final ceremony in London in October.

One of Northern Ireland's finest listed buildings, the Antrim Courthouse, was Commended in the Building Conservation category.

Last week the Pier Head Ferry Terminal in Liverpool won the RICS North West Award for Tourism & Leisure at a presentation ceremony held in Manchester. The state-of-the-art Ferry Terminal was shortlisted from an original entry of 70 projects.

Paul Millar, Partner of Hamilton Architects and Kriterion Conservation Architects said: "We are delighted to win these five awards for three prestigious projects of local and national importance. As a practice what we do best is creating buildings for people and these awards recognise the entire team’s contribution to conserving our built heritage, delivering projects for the community and enhancing tourism."

(CD/GK)