Hartlepool business centre is just the BIS after winning regional award

The BIS – a centre for “creating businesses through innovation and skills” - was created through the refurbishment of the Grade II-listed former Post Office building in Whitby Street.

It is one of four regional projects awarded in the Royal Institute of British Architects Awards (RIBA).

Also honoured are the Lower Mountjoy Teaching Centre, in Durham, and The Beam and Tombola House, in Sunderland.

And as well as receiving the Building of the Year award, The BIS’s designer, David Pogson, of Group Ginger, is named Project Architect of the Year.

RIBA North East Award winners will now be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced on Thursday, September 9.

The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning projects later in the year.

Regional jury chair Ben Elliott said: “Regeneration and learning are at the heart of all the winning projects, and across the North East this is a recognisable area of strength.”

"The RIBA Awards North East winning projects are unique in form whilst flexible and adaptable in their design. They relate to their wider contexts, developing a sense of identity in the architecture in order to foster new working communities.”

The Bis is no stranger to awards – the £4million project was named Heritage winner in the first Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Social Impact Awards North East last year.

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