Following on from JFA Landscape and Ecology’s previous articles on the Big Challenge CIRIA have now released details of the winners of the BIG Challenge Awards.
Visit the CIRIA page to see the full list of awards, winners and runners up. The overall winner of the BIG Challenge Awards is The Pirbright Institute. Their ‘Populating and Pollinating Pastures’ project won the ‘Large Scale Permanent Award’ and was selected as overall winner. This project created a series of small but significant biodiversity enhancements and spaces for wildlife within the Pirbright Institute grounds. The Pirbright Institute in Surrey is currently in the process of constructing a new high containment research laboratory. Their site has a total of 300 acres of land, some of which has been used to encourage wildlife to permanently populate the chosen areas. To enable this, a number of biodiversity enhancements have been introduced, along with new environmental management schedules and new native planting policies. 6.5 hectares of grassland has been transformed into a reptile receptor site and a small 2 acre woodland has been given a biodiversity overhaul. Elsewhere on site, stag beetle habitat has been created and also they have created enclaves for bee keepers with bee hives. See the full case study Kier received an awards for ‘Best Community Engagement’ with ‘Discovering what birds like to eat: Port Talbot Parkway Railway Station. Workshops were delivered to over 200 children to inspire them and demonstrate the importance of looking after and understanding the local wildlife and environment. Hands on activities were also introduced such as making bird feeders and dissecting owl pellets. See the full case study Kier was also a runner up for the ‘Large scale Temporary improvement’ category with ‘Greening the grey: The Green Wall. The concrete batter at their site entrance was converted to an eye catching, beautiful green wall. This was visited by a selection of insects and birds that inner city construction sites do not usually come across. See the full case study Wilmott Dixon were awarded ‘Small Scale Temporary Improvement’ with the Brentford Lock Buffer Strip. This wildflower area buffer strip was established between the road and the site’s hoarding,. The creation of the buffer strip was in response to the site team’s initiative to create a positive site set-up. The project aimed to offer ecological value to pollinators and positive impression for construction trades and project visitors alike, as well as establishing the intent to create a positive legacy. See the full case study Willmott Dixon were also a runner up in the ‘Small Scale Permanent Award’ with: Hibernaculum at Thornwell School. They built a hibernaculum for newts in Thornwell School’s wildlife area. This was in response to the ecologist’s report which identified the presence of newts on the site. They used the project as an opportunity to talk to the school’s Eco Club about ecology. See the full case study Wilmott Dixon were also runner up in ‘The Most Innovative Award’ with: Finding Space for Nature. The construction and maintenance industries’ considerable investment in research, training and materials results in a better quality of life for people, but does not always suit wildlife so well. However, with thought and planning, it is possible to provide and create spaces for nature within projects. Their first scheme identified that external wall insulation due to be fitted could have had a detrimental effect on bat populations, this was solved by the installation of cheap and effective Schwegler bat boxes. See the full case study
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