CARNIVAL Hub has been named as a finalist for the Thames Valley Property Awards.
The multi-million pound hub, which opened in July, is in the running to win Development of the Year at the awards which take place on Wednesday, November 16.
The development is home to the town’s new leisure centre and library and was part of the regeneration of Wokingham town centre.
The hub received praise for the quality of the facilities, which include a state-of-the-art leisure centre, library, sports hall, café and swimming pools.
Cllr Clive Jones, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to see the Carnival Hub recognised as a finalist for Development of the Year at the Thames Valley Property Awards.
“The success of the project has involved the hard work of a significant number of individuals and partners that we have worked with to deliver a flagship community building using a modern approach.”
The council’s ambition for Carnival Hub was to create one of the most energy efficient leisure centres in the UK.
Features of the new site include solar panels, air source heat pumps on the roof and improving the thermal fabric of the building.
All of these changes saw an 87% reduction of Co2/m2 in operation.
Actions that contributed to the reduction of the base energy rate included enhancing thermal performance, managing external glazing and reducing the area of external fabric and the building volume.
After the council declared a climate emergency in 2019, the Carnival Hub project was reviewed to ensure it met the desire to do everything possible to reduce carbon emissions.
Cllr Jones said: “The project is an excellent example of how the council works with a wide range of partners to deliver remarkable results that benefit the local community and the environment.
“We are very proud to have a facility that offers such a variety of services to our residents and also of the hub’s green credentials.”
The council was nominated for the award by Roberts Limbrick, the sport, leisure and community architects.
It also worked with contractor Pelikaan Construction Ltd and project managers Faithful and Gould, while HLM were the master planning and landscape architects.
The Thames Valley Property Awards is a commercial property event, which recognises agents,developers, planners, consultants and more.
There are 18 categories, with the Carnival Hub up against four other projects for the Development of the Year prize. This includes the Shinfield Creative Media Hub.
