Ysgol Ffwrnes wins a major construction industry award

Llanelli’s Ysgol Ffwrnes (Furnace School) has won a major construction industry award.
Led and developed by Carmarthenshire County Council’s in-house design and projects team, and built by WRW Construction Ltd, the school was named the best sustainable building in Wales and highly commended in the building of the year category at the 2015 Construction Excellence Wales awards.
It will now go forward to the UK finals, which will be held in London later this year.
The joint submission by WRW and the council highlighted the school’s eco features, as well as the sustainable methods used in its design and construction.
Cllr Hazel Evans, Executive Board Member for Environment, said: “Winning this award proves that Ysgol Ffwrnes is one of the best in Wales. We are very pleased that it has been recognised by construction industry leaders, although our most valued feedback is from staff and pupils who use the building daily – and they think it’s fantastic too.”
The Welsh medium school, built through the council’s Modernising Education Programme, achieved BREEAM outstanding at design stage and is scheduled to become the first BREEAM outstanding school constructed in Wales, owing to its high environmentally friendly standards.
Various measures were considered and built in to design, with the aim of considerably reducing energy demand and use, and encouraging eco-friendly behaviour and responsible use.
Features include rainwater harvesting, external planting, habitat and ecological areas, a large array of photovoltaic solar panels, and a number of other renewable energy sources and building management systems.
Ysgol Ffwrnes was amongst a number of people and projects linked to Carmarthenshire County Council that were shortlisted for a CEW award – considered the pinnacle of construction excellence in Wales.
For the second time, Shane Evans, one of the council’s design technicians within the design and projects team, was one of only three in Wales to be shortlisted for the Young Achiever award, although he narrowly missed out once again.
Shane, who joined the authority as a building cadet in 2011 having completed a shared apprenticeship with Carmarthenshire Construction Training Association Ltd, suffers a debilitating condition but has battled through illness to qualify as a carpenter and quickly progress his career. He now works alongside senior staff on construction design and management of the council’s major investment projects.
Cyfle Building Skills, a project the council partners with to provide training and apprenticeship opportunities, won the Leadership and People Development Award.