New Scotland Yard wins Better Public Building Award at the 2017 British Construction Industry Awards

The New Scotland Yard building on Victoria Embankment has been named as the winner of the 2017 Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award. The Award sets out to ‘recognise excellence in publicly funded buildings and infrastructure, and highlights projects that bring real change to communities, demonstrate innovative and efficient construction and deliver value for money’. The winning building, designed by AHMM, is a £58 million project that remodelled and extended the former Curtis Green building. It represents a move back to Victoria Embankment for the Metropolitan Police service, having first previously occupied the address in 1890. The new entrance is designed ‘to create a welcoming and non-institutional yet secure front door’ and reinstates the iconic revolving sign. The project was completed as part of a major rethink of the organisation’s corporate real estate strategy, in line with UK Government objectives for the public sector estate.

Other features include:

• a modern, flexible and efficient office environment for the Metropolitan Police Service
• extended floor space that facilitates agile working and more interaction between staff
• innovative design including an elegant curved glass entrance pavilion to enable greater access for the public

It was funded from the sale of New Scotland Yard’s previous site at 10 Broadway, which was vacated in 2016 and acts as a central hub supported by nine local offices.
This award is supported by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), part of the Cabinet Office, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It was presented for the first time in 2001. It is one of many awards presented at the British Construction Industry Awards (BCIA), organised by New Civil Engineer Magazine, and held in association with Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Architects Journal.

Professor Tim Broyd, ICE President and BCIA judge, said: “Here is a building that is both functional for day to day police work and yet also accessible and welcoming to the public. The design is stunning, complementing its surroundings and demonstrating a redevelopment that has been completed to the highest standard.”