Judges were so stunned by the quality of the new Wymondham College sixth form centre that they broke with tradition and created a special award for design excellence.

Judges were so stunned by the quality of the new Wymondham College sixth form centre that they broke with tradition and created a special award for design excellence.

It has been presented to LSI Architects and contractor RG Carter Ltd, of Norwich, who also won the new building category at South Norfolk Council's eighth annual design awards - where a plea was made for developers to improve design standards across the board.

Martin Wynne, the council's planning committee chairman and design champion, was delighted by the high standards on show, but said the awards also sent out a very serious message to developers wanting to build thousands of extra homes across the district and region.

He called on them to improve the quality of their designs voluntarily, and if that did not work councils should not be afraid to refuse applications, which did not recognise the importance of high quality design.

“It is evident that the schemes hitting the highest standards are those where the owners have a clear vision of what they wish to achieve and insist on this with the architects and builders, as part of their brief. Higher standards are unfortunately not so forthcoming from larger developers, and these must be both encouraged voluntarily or if necessary refused if maximum sustainability is not achieved.

“This is especially the case in the light of the continued pressure for new properties in our region. I would also like to see greater attention to landscaping and in the future, more entries in this category,” he said.

The new sixth form centre provides 115 ensuite single bedrooms and support accommodation, it expands the dining facilities, and has a new IT suite, reading room, office, music room and student lounges.

The judges said it was a “distinctive and dramatic building”, and were impressed by its sustainability credentials using renewably energy technologies.

The award in the landscape category, which also involved Wymondham College, went to Shiels Flynn, Landscape Architects of Docking, and to the landscape contractor GDC Ltd, of St Olaves.

All the information about the winners can be found on line at www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/designawards