St Albans Oaklands College up for award at Tewinbury hotel

Oaklands College will be up for the Property & Construction Project of the Year award at the thirteenth annual staging of the event, which takes place on June 27 at Tewinbury Farm hotel.

They have been recognised for their campus Construction Centre project, which aims to create a 3,000m² new-build that will provide state-of-the-art teaching facilities for the construction skills curriculum areas. 

Claire Dolan, deputy principal strategy, partnership and business development at Oaklands College, said: "We are very excited to be recognised in this category, and are proud of this particular project, which will provide construction students with new fit-for-purpose teaching facilities.

"This building project forms part of a wider, £62m multi-phase redevelopment of the college's main campus in St Albans in which we are entirely transforming the campus to create a centre of excellence for learners, whether that be young people on their academic qualification journey or those equipping themselves with the best business and vocational skills to excel in the workplace."

Construction is a growing industry in the UK and produces many highly skilled jobs, and the project aims to help create jobs within St Albans for future generations.

The project uses sustainable and cutting-edge practices, including being one of the first of its kind in the UK to use a brick made from fully recycled materials.  

Oaklands College opened in 1921 and has campuses across Hertfordshire, with locations in Welwyn Garden City and Borehamwood, in addition to the St Albans campus.

Earlier this month, they held a ceremony to celebrate their nomination and show off the progress that has been made on the project. Guests were also given tours of the campus facilities.

The ceremony was attended by the High Sheriff, Annie Brewster, who said: "Two words that are important to me are ambition and excellence and Oaklands have shown both these qualities."

Guests attend Oaklands College's construction ceremony (Image: Oakland College)

The Inspiring Herts awards were launched by the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce in 2012 to champion and promote local businesses and entrepreneurs in the area.