UCEM apprentice’s design and build project wins national offsite construction award

Posted on: 8 December, 2021

A design and build project which a UCEM apprentice worked on won in its category at the 2021 Offsite Construction Awards.

Rio Nicolaou was the lead quantity surveyor on expansion works at Addington SEN School in Wokingham which was recognised as the Education Project of the Year.

The project saw the creation of a new sixth form block for 50 students, two multi-use games areas, a sensory path and an expanded car park. The construction of the building was completed by modular construction specialists, Reds10, with 70% of the building work completed offsite at its factories and then transported to the school.

Rio, who is currently studying on UCEM’s Chartered Surveyor apprenticeship (quantity surveying pathway) and is a quantity surveying apprentice at Faithful+Gould, commented: “It was great that the project was recognised like this, and for it to be my first project where I was involved from start to finish and took on that responsibility.

“Using modular construction methods reduces the number of vehicle trips required and cuts down on the amount of waste produced, contributing towards Wokingham’s goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030. Using modular buildings helps increase the speed at which the project was completed and reduces the disruption to the local community.”

As to his future aims in the industry, Rio added: “I hope to keep providing my QS services to the same standards and hopefully work on more projects that will win awards like this!”

The Offsite Construction Awards recognise industry-leading innovation and expertise. For more, head to the awards website.