Member Article

Top Award Takes Pride Of Place At York Development

A popular student accommodation scheme in York that was recently developed by S Harrison, has been named as the ‘Best High-Volume New Housing Development’ at the prestigious Local Authority Building Control (LABC) North and East Yorkshire Building Excellence Awards.

York based S Harrison completed work on Percys Place, located in the Walmgate conservation area, last year and it now offers 106 student bedrooms and has significantly improved the local streetscape on both Percys Lane and Navigation Road.

The LABC rewards quality projects that demonstrate high levels of compliance with building regulations, outstanding craftsmanship, technical innovation, sustainability performance, the ability to solve technical problems and the use of innovative products. The award was presented at a ceremony held at The Principal York Hotel.

Steve McManaman, from S Harrison, said: “Percys Place was the final piece of the jigsaw in the regeneration of this part of York, replacing an industrial unit with a high-quality residential development that is much more in-keeping with its surroundings.

“The site was technically challenging, due to it being in a conservation area and a flood zone, with poor ground conditions. We overcame all this by working closely with North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership in order to regenerate the site in a sensitive and commercially viable way, and the award has recognised all of our efforts.”

GMI Construction Group PLC was the lead contractor at Percys Place, which offers a collection of unique, self-contained townhouses with their own front doors, similar to a traditional shared student house, but with all the comforts modern students expect. There is also a mix of one, three, five and six-bedroom en-suite apartments.

The three and four storey buildings include study spaces, a fully kitted gym, a cinema room, beautiful communal areas, a games room and a courtyard area. The development is now owned by Empiric (York Percy’s Lane) Limited and managed by Hello Student®.

This award is the latest in a string of accolades that S Harrison has won in recent months. The company scooped the ‘Yorkshire Pride Award’ at this year’s Variety Yorkshire Property Awards, for its ongoing transformation of Buchan House in Edinburgh, into a new hotel for Malmaison, complete with bar and brasserie. It also won the ‘Best Large Commercial Project Award’ at the LABC East Midlands Building Excellence Awards for its work developing Lincoln city centre’s recently opened 127-bedroom Travelodge hotel.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steven Wright .