F Parkinson scooped a double win at the North West Regional Construction Awards 2017 for its flagship project, Maggie’s Oldham.
Despite tough competition from high-profile projects across the North West of England, Maggie’s Oldham was awarded ‘Project of the Year’ and ‘Sub-Regional Project of the Year for Manchester’.
Maggie’s Oldham is a cancer care centre situated within the grounds of The Royal Oldham Hospital. Maggie’s is a charity that provides free practical, emotional and social support for people with cancer and their family and friends. The project is the world’s first permanent building constructed entirely of hardwood cross-laminated timber (CLT). The building has a striking design where the building sits on six stilts thus allowing the building to hover over a garden. Another unique aspect is that trees grow up through the building, bringing nature into the interior. Steve Williamson, Regional Director for F Parkinson summarised the scheme “situated in the grounds of Oldham Hospital, the project was an exemplar example of collaborative working between ourselves F Parkinson, dRMM Architects, Robert Lombardelli Partnership, Booth King and Atelier 10. The finished project is visually stunning and contains so many ground-breaking construction moments. From the lining and levelling of the intricate and now hidden curved steel, the craning into position of the first tulipwood CLT wall panel, the installation of the convex and concave glass bubble, the point at which the scaffold was dropped to reveal the fantastic workmanship on the tulipwood cladding, the revealing of the yellow resin floor, the positioning of the log handrail and the birch tree rising through the glass bubble in majesty. The detailing truly represents the vision and philosophy of all that Maggie’s represents.”
The awards evening took place on Friday 23rd June at the Principal Hotel in Manchester and was attended by over 500 North West based construction professionals. The project now be entered into the National Awards which will be held in London in November.