Proton Beam Therapy Centre wins Building of the Year

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce has named The Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre as the winner of its Building of the Year Award.

The Christie is the home of the first Proton Beam Therapy Centre in the UK. PBT is an extremely technical form of radiotherapy that uses a high energy beam of protons to deliver radiotherapy. The building, located in Withington, was completed earlier this year by contractor Interserve and is now open to patients. The architect was HKS, the engineer was Arup, and Mace was the project manager.

The Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre beat five other finalists for the Building of the Year Award: Mackie Mayor; No.1 Spinningfields; Ordsall Chord; The Pavilion in Spinningfields; and Timekeepers Square in Salford.

Commenting on this year’s winner, John Atkins, chair of the Chamber’s property and construction committee and managing director of Atkins Property, said: “The importance of the new Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre to Greater Manchester cannot be overstated. The facility is one of the first high energy proton beam therapy centres in the country and continues Christie’s role as the UK’s leading cancer care centre and research facility.

“In addition to the cancer treatment benefits, the new facility was delivered by a truly collaborative construction effort between the client, the stakeholders and construction teams. The result is a facility that is class leading, welcoming, sensitive and of immeasurable value to those whose lives it will save and to their families.

“The judging panel felt that this project met fully our criteria of the building which, more than any other in Greater Manchester this year, delivers outstanding economic and social benefits to our city region.”

Previous winners include Oldham Town Hall, Maggie’s at The Christie, and The Whitworth Art Gallery.

Ordsall Chord, the rail link connecting Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria stations, was given a Highly Commended award.