Praise at property awards for sustainable school scheme

A Shropshire building contractor has been highly commended for its construction of net zero carbon school facilities at an awards ceremony celebrating the top property projects in the West Midlands.

Pave Aways Building Contractors received the award for its work at Harlescott Junior School in the West Midlands Property Awards at Birmingham’s Metropole Hotel on November 17. 

The £9.1m project, completed earlier this year for Shropshire Council, involved a number of new buildings and the refurbishment of the existing Victorian school, all to highly sustainable and energy efficient standards. 

The build allowed the Haughmond Federation to bring its infant and primary provision together on one site in Featherbed Lane. It included a new nursery setting, 18 classrooms, a pupil support hub, a hall, kitchen, offices and meeting rooms. The flagship project was one of the first to support Shropshire Council’s aim to reduce its emissions to zero by 2030. 

Pave Aways’ Managing Director Steven Owen said: “This was a challenging build for many reasons, not least marrying the new build and renovation elements together, so to be highly commended in these prestigious awards was a great achievement and credit to our team. 

“The project allowed us to develop new expertise in sustainable building methods, something we’re using on many other schemes as we look to build a greener future going forward.” 

Steven added: “As the only Shropshire team to be singled out by judges, we’re flying the flag for the county among much larger and higher profile businesses in the Midlands so we’re proud of that too.”