Luxury complex is in line for honour

1:25am Thursday 15th May 2008

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The company behind a £70million luxury apartment complex in Shipley has been nominated for a major industry award.

Ilkley-based Quarmby Construction will be among a host of the region's top builders and developers hoping to pick up a West Yorkshire Building Control award at a dinner in Bradford next month.

It has been nominated for the design and construction of the first stage of development at the 130-year-old Victoria Mills in Shipley.

Quarmby's first contract to build 113 apartments in a seven-story block - named VM1 - was completed back in November. The new building became the first of three developed alongside the converted original mill.

A spokesman for Quarmby Construction, which has its headquarters in Grove Promenade, Ilkley, said the company was "delighted" to have been nominated for the Built In Quality 2008 awards.

She said: "We are delighted to have been recognised in the West Yorkshire Building Control Awards.

"As a local contractor, it is important to us that wecontinue to beassociatedwith the best projects in the region and Victoria Mills certainly falls into that category.

"In terms oficonic buildingdesign and contemporary construction it is comparable with the verybestnew residential developments in the country."

Victoria Mills will be up against Johnson Homes, for the Waterfront development in Knottingley, near Wakefield, and Conroy Brooks (Development) Ltd for the retirement apartments at Holme Valley Court, Holmfirth, near Huddersfield.

The winner will be announced at a charity dinner at Bradford's Cedar Court hotel on Thursday, June 12.

Also hoping to pick up an award is Charlestown House, for the project at Barnby Place, Undercliffe, which has been nominated in the New Dwellings, (under ten units) Category.

The development is a mixture of terraced houses and flats built to environmentally-friendly specifications, a spokesman for Bradford Council's building control said.

He said: "All the nominees have been inspected by local authorities' own inspectors.

"We are pleased that two projects in Bradford have made it to the finals of the West Yorkshire competition."

The awards, which recognise outstanding projects, design and workmanship in the West Yorkshire area, have been running for three years.

This year's event is sponsored by Yorkshire Water, YBS Insulations, Ten Alps Publishing, noise.co.uk and Barbour.

The awards dinner will also raise money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance with a charity raffle.

Other local projects looking to pick up awards are Clarence Dock, the retail, domestic and commercial development in Leeds, and the University Of Huddersfield for its new Creative Arts Building.

The winners of the categories will go through to a national final.

A competition spokesman said: "We are very excited about this year's event as the competition is now better than ever.

"The interest generated from the last few years' events has enabled us to add a new category, Mixed Development/ Urban Regeneration which allows us to include a wider range of projects and honour the increasing number of these projects being built in the area."

The whole Victoria Mills development includes more than 400 luxury apartments.

There are also outdoor facilities including a tennis courts, running track, large chess boards, water features and picnic areas.

Work on the other two new buildings, known as VM2 and Northern Lights, is also under way and scheduled for completion in the summer.