We are delighted to announce that Newcastle Energy Centre has been announced as winner of the Infrastructure category at the North East RICS Social Impacts Awards.

The RICS awards ceremonies, which recognise the projects across the North East which have made the most positive contribution to the built environment and wider society, took place virtually this year due to the ongoing situation around Covid-19 and Newcastle Energy Centre was announced as winning project within the infrastructure category.

Working alongside Engie Regeneration and Newcastle City Centre, Gradon delivered the state of the art Energy Centre as the beating heart of the 24 acre Helix development. The Energy Centre is a monumental project for the North East and will deliver low carbon and cost effective energy across the Helix site, providing the 10 commercial buildings and 450 homes with a sustainable supply of combined heat and power energy. Over the 40 year contract period, this will save an estimated 30,650 tonnes of carbon and cut carbon emissions by 15% which will provide ongoing support to the vital work being done in the innovation, research, and business facilities across the Helix development.

The Judges said “Newcastle’s new £10million district energy centre at the Helix offers cost effective energy solutions to reduce CO2 emissions and increased efficiency. It works using combined heat and power engines backed up by 3 boilers that generate electricity and produce hot water for the Helix site. An exemplar project which will help identify further opportunities to develop similar energy networks across the city to maximise the reduction of carbon for heating and cooling in line with the City’s net zero carbon target.”

Gradon’s Managing Director Graham McDarby said, “It is fantastic to have won this prestigious award and we are incredibly proud of the Energy Centre and the significant role it will play in the North East’s plan to tackle climate change and become a carbon neutral city by 2030. The delivery of the Energy Centre has shown our continued use of BIM within the practice, with the building having been delivered to BIM level 2 standards in order to assist with the complex number of stakeholders involved in the project and to ensure a consistent level of quality. The GRADONARCHITECTURE team are incredibly proud of the finished result and would like to say a big congratulations to Engie, Newcastle City Council and the rest of the team involved in the project. “