A state-of-the-art waste recycling centre has been named as one of the most impressive recent building projects in the South West in a prestigious building awards scheme.
Bath & North East Council’s £41.8m Keynsham recycling hub, which was officially opened in February, is among the regional winners in the RICS (Royal Institution of chartered surveyors) Awards 2024.
The centre includes recycling facilities for household waste collected by the council as well as facilities such as a publicly accessible household waste drop-off, a re-use shop, offices and an MOT/vehicle maintenance workshop.
Helping it win the Public Sector category of the awards was the fact that it consolidated the council’s operational facilities from three sites across the district, becoming the central depot for more than 100 recycling and refuse collections vehicles and serving as the base for more than 200 operations and support staff, who now work in modern offices with welfare facilities.
Its new materials recovery facility includes the latest sorting and baling equipment while a vast wooden-roofed salt and gritting barn will ensure easy access and winter gritting to nearby roads, including the A4.
In line with the council’s climate and ecological emergency declarations, the scheme includes a 3800m2 (783KWp) solar PV array on the buildings’ roofs along with rainwater harvesting, which collects water from roof tops to be stored underground and used for vehicle washing and plant watering.
The Keynsham recycling hub, along with the four other winning South West projects, will now compete at national level, having been shortlisted for the RICS Awards Grand Final taking place in The Park Plaza Riverbank, London, in October.
The awards showcase the most inspirational initiatives and developments while also recognising outstanding achievement, teamwork and companies.
The winning regional projects, which were judged across five categories – residential development, community benefit, heritage, public sector, refurbishment-revitalisation – also include:
- Cidermill Theatre, Chipping Campden School (community benefit)
- Dartmoor National Park (heritage)
- Bayspace St Ives (refurbishment/revitalisation)
- Keynvor residential development, Mawgan Porth (residential development).
South West RICS Awards judging panel chair James Wakeham said: “These winning projects are a true testament to the hard work and dedication of industry professionals in the South West.
“The talent and collaborative approaches undertaken by the teams behind these projects have resulted in exemplary and innovative schemes that really do represent the very best built projects across the South West.”
