We are delighted to announce that the Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology (BCMIoT) has received a 2022 RIBAJ MacEwen Award Commendation.

This annual award recognises architecture made for the common good, celebrating projects which are of demonstrable and wide social benefit.

The BCMIoT in Dudley is designed to bring jobs and opportunities to the Black Country, offering apprenticeships and vocational T-levels to both local young people and adults.

The BCMIoT is also a perfect example of how good collaboration can successfully deliver a complex, innovative building project on time and under budget using the pioneering Integrated Project Insurance (IPI) model, in which risks and rewards, mistakes and solutions are shared by the interdisciplinary team, working together as a board.

RIBAJ MacEwen Award judge, Kathy MacEwen gave the institute a resounding thumbs-up:

‘This project is important for what it is providing, the approach taken to its design and build, and its scale. It is a big intervention. If all sheds looked like this I would be happy. The process they adopted ensures its quality, they chose to go down a route that did not reduce the quality of the building right to the end – that decision is one of the ideals of what we are trying to achieve with the MacEwen award. The more I look at it the more I like it. This building has the potential to give skills a real boost in its home town of Dudley and beyond.'

Read more in the RIBAJ: ‘Black Country’s shiny new route to work commended in MacEwen Awards’