MK Forty Tower Wins the 2008 LABC Awards and beats Wembley National Stadium

At a national award ceremony held in Grosvenor House Hotel, London on Thursday 16 October, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes Council and dRMM architects were announced as the winners in the Best Structural Project category of the 2008 LABC National Built in Quality Awards for MK Forty Tower. The Award recognises either an individual or an organisation that has a new way of complying with Building Regulations with a new design or technological innovation.

MK Forty Tower was commissioned by Milton Keynes Gallery from architects dRMM in 2007 to make a temporary public artwork in celebration of Milton Keynes' 40th anniversary year. Erected outside the gallery, it was designed to "conceptually contrast the predominant horizontality of the city."

Erected in just seven days, the Tower's prefabricated sections were made of 90mm and162mm thick cross-laminated timber from sustainable forests in Austria. During the few months the Tower was open to the public last summer almost 5,500 visitors climbed the 101 steps to the upper viewing platform to see the views of the cityscape and surrounding countryside. The Tower has since been moved to storage at The Parks Trust, with a view to relocating it in Milton Keynes.

The judges said they were

"particularly impressed by the use of carbon neutral material in producing an elegant structural solution that addressed the issues related to both the site constraints, and the sculptural form."

They added:

"It was evident that the project team had worked closely with MK Building Control to reach this resolution and create an imaginative piece that the public could interact with."

Gallery Director, Michael Stanley commented,

"Its wonderful news that the ambition and imagination of this project has been nationally recognised and that the Gallery and Milton Keynes Council have led the way in achieving building excellence."

MK Forty Tower beat

• Wembley National Stadium
• B&Q Warehouse Derby
• 2 Victoria Place, Chippenham
• Preston Farm Development
• Vega "Block F"
• Celestia Pierhead Street
• Cardiff Bay

to win this category of the 2008 LABC Awards.