An ambitious project to add additional accommodation to a block of flats in Bristol has earned a prestigious building excellence award from an industry expert.

Connolly & Callaghan (C&C) created seven new eco-friendly flats on top of a building in Mina Road, St Werburghs.

These have earned a building excellence award from market-leading building control inspectors Cook Brown, who are licenced by the Construction Industry Council to provide building regulation approval for all types of construction projects.

Tony Davis, Construction Manager for Connolly & Callaghan, said:

“This was a very challenging build, costing £1.5 million.

“It is a project that the vast majority of organisations would have walked away from, not only because of the obvious issues that you could see but also because of those that you couldn’t see until you were well into the construction.

“We used a light-weight steel frame system, clad inside and out and very well insulated, enabling the building to gain the best possible ‘U values’, a measure of insulation.

“This was the most sustainable construction possible in the circumstances, achieving the best possible energy efficiency ratings for this development.

“We wanted to provide a quality build which is well insulated, sustainable, comfortable to live in, and which will greatly reduce heating and running costs.

“From the feedback we have received, we feel we have achieved this. For example, one of the tenants in the existing flats reported that their heating bills have halved since the second-floor development was completed.”

Tony added:

“The new flats range from 900sq/ft to 1,100 sq/ft, providing ample space for different sized families, which is not always the case in modern developments.

“We were very proud to learn that we have won an award from Cook Brown. This reinforces our commitment to quality and to building attractive and sustainable homes.”

The judging team from Cook Brown said:

“The Mary Seacole scheme was considered to have been well-managed on site. The building was compliant with Building Regulations and the contractor demonstrated good attention to detail on site.

“The Cook Brown surveyor who nominated this scheme considered it to have used good quality materials and that the workmanship was of a high standard.

“It was also noted that the flats achieved high ratings on the Energy Performance Certificates, which demonstrated that not only was the development well-constructed, but that it is very energy efficient, too.”