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Structural Concrete competition winners 2024

The Concrete Centre’s annual student Structural Concrete competition has been won by Gavin Hughes, Niall McGettigan, Amy McKillen and Ellie Swaile-Blemmings from Queens University, Belfast.

The Concrete Centre held a virtual prize giving awards ceremony via webinar, which took place on Thursday 15 August 2024, where the winners were announced to all delegates. The online event celebrated the winner’s highlights and achievements along with their fellow entrants and the judges.

The 2024 competition attracted entries from across UK schools of engineering and three prizes were awarded.

First prize - Gavin Hughes, Niall McGettigan, Amy McKillen and Ellie Swaile-Blemmings from Queens University, Belfast.

Second prize - Gaurav Kirti Patel, Myo Mar Lar Myint, Bikash Shrestha and Artan Lleshi from the University of East London.

Sustainability Award – Sorrel Walsh from the University of Leeds.

Jenny Burridge, judge and Head of Education and Training at The Concrete Centre said “This year’s project was an art gallery, set around an atrium space with a basement for storage and plant. The judges were impressed with the work that had gone into all the entries we had and with the structural understanding shown by the students.”

Gavin Hughes, Niall McGettigan, Amy McKillen and Ellie Swaile-Blemmings from Queen’s University, Belfast impressed the judges with their excellent submission that included two good options for the structure, covering both precast and in situ concrete options. It was a high quality submission with neat drawings that clearly showed the design intent.

They proposed two good options for the project, and provided a well-researched letter to the client on flood resilience and how this could be provided by their scheme. Clear thought was given to the choice of materials and how these would impact the performance and sustainability of the building.

The entry from University of East London was also of an excellent standard and the judges decided that they merited second prize. Gaurav Kirti Patel, Myo Mar Lar Myint, Bikash Shrestha and Artan Lleshi from the University of East London submitted a well-presented entry showing a good understanding of structural principles, with high quality drawings.

Sorrel Walsh from the University of Leeds provided an excellent sustainability report. Chairman of the judges, Roger Hewitt of WSP said “The report went into detail on the material efficiency of different floor options together with the cost benefits. A really strong report.”

The brief for the next competition Structural Concrete 2025 was also launched at the event and is to design a hotel building which is to be constructed as part of the redevelopment of a former dock area on an estuary close to the centre of a large UK town.