British Construction Industry Awards 2011

The Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering is delighted to announce that at the British Construction Industry Awards, The Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award winner was awarded to the Velodrome, Olympic Park, London.  The Velodrome's principal architect was Jonathan Watts, Hopkins Architects, and its principal structural engineer was George Oates, Expedition. Both graduated from the department in 2004 and 2003 respectively.

The brief for the Velodrome was to provide a venue for the indoor track cycling events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to deliver a permanent structure and identity that would become a lasting legacy for the Lower Lea Valley and Olympic Park.  The design aimed to provide an elegant response to the client's brief using simple materials in an efficient manner that met the available budget.

The award recognises new buildings and spaces that improve public services, which give a sense of identity and community, are a source of local pride, and help build a sustainable future.

George Oates, a Structural Engineer with Expedition graduated in 2003 with a first class honours MEng in Civil and Architectural Engineering.  George said "The architect at Hopkins responsible for the roof on the Velodrome, with whom I did most of my work, was also a Bath graduate. There are a few Bath graduates at Expedition and they are all excelling. The teaching, the inspiration, and the constant teaming up with architects breeds an engineer who quickly becomes indispensible. It is the collaboration between architect and engineer which has enabled such a fantastic design".

Professor Tim Ibell, Head of Department, said "Winning the British Construction Industry's supreme Prime Ministerial Award is just recognition of the architectural elegance and structural innovation in the Velodrome. For this extraordinary building to have been designed by two fairly-recent graduates from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering is terrific. We are extremely proud of this achievement, not least of all as it shows our students and others what can be achieved when architecture and engineering are in synch."