Winners of first national Big Build competition announced

Robertson Construction, Cedar Developments Ltd and Carillion Civil Engineering have been crowned winners of the first ‘Honor’s Big Build’ competition.

Honor Goodsite is the female construction industry mascot launched in 2016 by the Considerate Constructors Scheme – the organisation established to improve the image of the construction industry. Honor’s Big Build competition encourages anyone registered with the Scheme to invite schools and local communities to help design and construct an iconic or imaginative building out of recyclable materials.

Launched in Autumn 2017, Honor’s Big Build has been a tremendous success with 32 teams entering the Competition, comprising around 900 children and adults. Every competition entry showed incredible thought, both towards construction itself and protecting the environment, making it really tough for the judges from the Scheme’s Education and Development Team to award three winning teams with the coveted title of ‘Honor’s Big Build 2017 Winner’.

Winner’s Robertson Construction engaged with Marine Park First School in Tyne and Wear to recreate the Spanish City Dome, a local iconic building (pictured). Using recyclable materials from the site itself, the striking model building was designed and created by 30 pupils whose futuristic interpretation of the Spanish City Dome represents what it would look like had it been built in the 21st Century.

Andrew Coleman, Senior Project Manager at Robertson Construction said: “We are absolutely delighted to be one of winners of the first Honor Goodsite’s Big Build competition with Marine Park First School. The schoolchildren all really enjoyed helping to recreate the structure of Spanish City and the level of detail they were able to create amazed us, and obviously wowed the judges.”

Winners Cedar Developments Ltd engaged with Eastcliffe Resource Industrial Centre (ERIC) in the Isle of Man to build a Manx Cotage. ERIC is a workshop for adults with learning disabilities, and the group decided to build a scaled down version of a traditional Manx Cottage, with the project team providing lots of recyclable materials for the project. The cottage will be used in the Adult Resources’ new garden centre as a chicken shelter.

Cedar Developments Director Alex Burnett commented: “Cedar is proud to have played a part in the ERIC team winning this award, but all the credit must go to the service users and staff that made it happen. The materials we supplied have been put to excellent use and the chickens now have a fantastic new home!

“The CCS is an important organisation which encourages firms to work with communities and enhance the environment, and we will certainly be looking to work with other groups in the future.”

Winner’s Carillion Civil Engineering engaged with Wellesley School in Yate, Somerset to create a sustainable railway station. As well as building, school pupils also had to design and cost the project. Pupils were then instructed to incorporate no less than three sustainable design features in the model. The pupils added innovative features such as a green roof wildlife habitat and rainwater storage for flushing station toilets.

Amy Bartell, Sustainability Advisor at Carillion Civil Engineering said: “Sustainability was at the heart of our Big Build Challenge. It was a great opportunity to raise awareness on current global issues and how these are influencing the ways in which the rail industry must operate.

“The students developed some fantastic innovative designs, and by working as a team they delivered on time and within budget. The session was thoroughly enjoyable for both the students and the volunteers involved.

“Carillion and Network Rail continue to work collaboratively to inspire the next generation of engineers, and events such as the Big Build Challenge are vital in helping us bring this campaign to a younger audience.”

Considerate Constructors Scheme Chief Executive Edward Hardy said: “Thank you to everyone that entered this year’s very first Honor’s Big Build competition, and huge congratulations to all the winners and runners-up.

“The Scheme is delighted that this competition has been so well received with around 900 children and young adults taking part. It was fantastic to see so many interesting constructions of iconic buildings, all using recycled materials.

“The success of Honor’s Big Build highlights how Scheme-registered sites, companies and suppliers are committed to engaging with local schools and communities in order to improve the image of our industry and inspire future generations to join construction.

“Honor’s Big Build helps to deliver three really important messages to children and young adults; how exciting the construction industry is to work in; how important protecting the environment is when creating buildings; and how construction is open to everyone, by having a female industry mascot helping to challenge the perception that construction is only for men.

“We look forward to seeing even greater participation in this fantastic competition next year.”

Each winning school/community group received a £100 Amazon gift voucher and Honor Goodsite Fun Packs. Winning contractors registered with the Scheme received a complimentary hire of the Honor Goodsite costume. All entrants are featured in Honor Goodsite’s Big Build Competition Brochure.

Director of the Young People’s Trust for the Environment, Peter Littlewood, congratulated the Scheme on the success of Honor’s Big Build: “It’s fantastic that young people are being encouraged to learn more about the environmental impacts of construction and create their own designs using recyclable materials. Honor’s Big Build provides a really interesting challenge for young people, whilst giving them the opportunity to learn new skills by working with experienced construction industry professionals.

To find out about all of this year’s competition entries, click here