BUILDING contractor Speller Metcalfe has scooped the development team award at the inaugural South Worcestershire Building Excellence Awards.

The company, in Malvern, won the award for its substantial re-development work carried out under challenging circumstances at Malvern College.

The £2 million contract consisted of rebuilding a grade two-listed 19th-century boarding house after it was virtually destroyed by a fire, and refurbishing adjacent boarding accommodation, all while the school remained in use.

The firm’s small works director Bill Cave said: “Speller Metcalfe was presented with quite a challenge after the fire, firstly to demolish sections of the unsafe building and render the building safe for use, before then carrying out building work while the college remained open, so this award is in recognition of the project team who did such a fantastic job.”

Malvern College being a listed complex meant that all features had to be restored to their original condition as much as possible, so key features of the project included the use of reclaimed bricks, restoration to stone work and decorative cornices as well repairs on extensive areas of lime plaster, together with the refurbishment of 88 student bedrooms.

Reza Saneie, head of South Worcestershire Building Control Partnership, said: “Building standards and regulations have a big impact on the built environment, our homes, places of work, schools and hospitals. Not only will awards like this encourage future standards to be high but they will inject a feel good factor within the local construction industry.”

The South Worcestershire Building Excellence Awards acknowledge and celebrate the high levels of skills and professionalism within the local building industry, with great consideration also given to energy conservation and sustainability.