6 February 2001 | Download this press release (Adobe PDF format, 24KB)
The Prime Minister will be putting his name to an annual Award for Better Public Building, to be announced today.
The Award will be given to a building or infrastructure project constructed using public funds which demonstrates quality of design, high functionality, best value in the broadest sense to the client, users and the community. The Award will emphasise this government's commitment to raising the standards of public building and investing in new capital projects across the board. The Award will form part of the British Construction Industry Awards scheme. It is jointly sponsored by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon Tony Blair MP, said:
"I am delighted to be able to put my name to this Award. This government is determined to show that good design is not just about creating attractive buildings, and environments in which children learn better or patients recover quicker. Good design can also be good for business and good for the environment. This Award will recognise the progress which is being made in the vitally important area of design quality."
The announcement of the Award will be made by the Rt. Hon Andrew Smith MP, Chief Secretary to HM Treasury at today's Building for the Future conference. He commented:
"Good design has a crucial contribution to make to the challenge of improving services and renewing Britain's infrastructure.
"Good design is fundamental to getting value for money. It is not a costly luxury; it helps deliver better services, and can deliver them at a lower cost over the life of the project. That means better value for money on both sides of the cost: benefit equation."
The call for entries to the Award from eligible projects will be in March. The winner will be announced at the British Construction Industry Awards in October.
Sir Stuart Lipton, Chairman of CABE, added:
"CABE has been given a clear mandate from the Prime Minister to improve the quality of publicly funded building across the country. We are delighted that he has chosen to support our work further through this excellent new Award."