JDDK Architects win at 2019 LABC Building Excellence Awards Grand Final

13.11.2019

Press Release

JDDK Architects was awarded the title of Best Partnership with a Local Authority Building Control Team at the Grand Final of the LABC Building Excellence Awards – one of the most recognised events on the building industry’s calendar.

A panel of industry experts judged a list of the highest quality projects and teams from around England and Wales to reward the best in technical innovation, sustainability, safety and design.

Chair of the LABC Northern Region, Dawn McQuillan said, "JDDK Architects have worked with the building control team from Sunderland City Council since 2002 and the partnership has gone from strength to strength.

"The range of projects undertaken by JDDK across the whole of the country has provided great opportunities for Sunderland’s Building Control service to get involved in major schemes outside of the city’s geographical boundaries which has had a tremendous impact on the development of the skills and knowledge base of the team. It truly epitomises the principles behind the Partner Authority Scheme."

JDDK Architects LABC Building Excellence Awards

The panel of expert judges said,

"This entry highlighted a highly successful working relationship between the partner company and the LABC team. The company provides very specialist medical buildings housing advanced technology such as proton beam therapy, which presented highly technical demands and required an innovative and evolving approach.

"This relationship has led, via a formal partnership agreement, to subsequent collaborations in Reading, Liverpool and Derby which have used the local Building Control departments as the site inspection authority, with Sunderland Building Control team carrying out the plan vetting process. This relationship has led to successful project outcomes, especially in dealing with the continuous design developments and advances needed to construct world class medical facilities"

LABC Chief Executive Paul Everall said,

"Congratulations to Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall of JDDK Architects on winning this prestigious award. They’re a great example of how good communication and cooperation has such a positive impact on construction projects.

"Our awards are an opportunity for the industry to celebrate good practice and they are unique because they recognise how this cooperation improves building standards and professionalism across the industry. Our winners demonstrate how positive working relationships with local authority building control teams achieves high quality, sustainable buildings."

The Grand Final of the LABC Building Excellence Awards took place on Friday 8 November 2019 at the Westminster Park Plaza in London and was hosted by multi award winning comedian Milton Jones. 840 building industry professionals including contractors, architects and engineers attended the celebration to find out which projects won across the 15 hotly contested categories.

These awards showcase buildings and design teams that tussle with complex technical or construction issues and building site constraints. They highlight innovative and creative solutions and building control professionalism that leads to safe, sustainable and high quality construction projects. Sponsors of the 2019 awards included Abbey Pynford, Actis, FMB, Home and Build, Jewson, Keystone, Keylite, LABC Acoustics, LABC Warranty, Planning Portal and Polypipe Building Services.