Felix O'Hare celebrate success at 25th edition of CEF Excellence Awards

This year’s Awards, the 25th edition since they commenced in 1999, represented the biggest to date with some 28 Award winners on the evening and nearly 630 in attendance at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast. The event was this year hosted by Claire McCollum and Phil Spencer with entertainment from Heather Small, and also saw a keynote address from the Minister for Infrastructure, John O'Dowd MLA.

In a highly competitive field, Riddel Hall Management School was selected by the panel of judges as this year’s outstanding project given its high complexity as well as responding to demanding client needs on a site with significant challenges in terms of level changes and environmental sensitivity.

Congratulating the winners, Mark Spence, Chief Executive of the Construction Employers Federation, said: “Riddel Hall Management School is a worthy winner of this year’s ‘Overall Award’ and, as the judges themselves commented, the teamwork between the contractor, design team and client all striving to deliver a great project was evident in the execution of the fine details and finishes such as the insitu concrete finishes internally and precast concrete exterior finishes. 

"In addition, particularly impressive was the quality of the internal joinery which demonstrated the significant advantage of having an in-house joinery team which could work collaboratively with the design team to develop details that added to the practicality and joy of the completed project.

“In conclusion the completed building blends perfectly into the curtilage of the original listed Riddle Hall with high quality landscaping and subtle use of materials to provide world class facilities for the staff and students at Queens University. 

"Congratulations to Felix O’Hare for delivering a magnificent building that they, and the entire Northern Ireland construction industry, can be proud of as a symbol of what we can achieve".