Sustainable cricket pavilion lands REALM student award nomination

Posted 26 June 2019

Second year BSc (Hons) Rural Enterprise and Land Management (REALM) student Grace Gardiner has been nominated for an award at the Women in Property Midlands Student Awards. The event takes place tonight where Grace joins 13 other nominees from universities across the region.

Prior to tonight’s event, taking place at Savills’ Birmingham office, Grace presented an idea for an accessible and sustainable new cricket pavilion for Harper Adams which was produced for an assignment. Two winners will be selected to progress to the national ceremony for ‘Best of the Best’ on 18^th September.

Grace said: “I wanted my building to reflect the heritage of Main Building as well as imitate the modernity of Harper’s newer buildings such as the library and laboratories. I chose to use sustainably sourced red cedar timber to mimic the red brick of the Main Building, and then incorporated lots of glass and environmentally friendly features such as solar panels, a grey water system and a biomass generator powered by the university farm manure to add the modern element.”

“I particularly enjoyed designing my pavilion, creating a 3D computer model. This assignment taught me all the elements to a building - that it is not simply just some walls and a roof. We learnt a variety of elements of construction from different types of foundations to brickwork patterns. It was also interesting to learn the relevant costings to this project.

“I feel very honoured to have been nominated for the Women in Property Student Awards and to get recognition for the work I put into the assignment. I would like to thank my lecturer Susan Ragbourne for putting me forward. The interview process of presenting in front of a panel of 7 experts in the field was great experience and will be valuable in my future career.

Grace, who is hoping to become an accredited chartered surveyor, will spend next year with Clinton Devon Estates on placement.