Northern Ireland developer and contractor McAleer & Rushe has scooped the prize for 'International Project of the Year' at the Irish Construction Industry Awards.

The NI company won the award at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin for delivering a Global Student Accommodation scheme in Portsmouth.

McAleer & Rushe was the design and build contractor for the £50 million 1000-bed Catherine House development project in Portsmouth.

The project transformed and extended the existing derelict 1970s landmark office building, Zurich House on Stanhope Road. The original structure was refurbished into a 405-bed student accommodation alongside an additional 11-storey new build extension.

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Commenting on the award Dominic Trainor, McAleer & Rushe Contracts Director said: "It is a great honour to be recognised by our peers for this project which further cements our position as leading contractors in the student accommodation sector. I want to pay tribute to our teams hard work and commitment and thank our client, GSA for entrusting us with the scheme. Carrying forward this collaborative relationship with GSA we have already begun work on two further projects in Bournemouth to deliver 950 student beds. We look forward to continuing to build this long-lasting relationship to deliver additional schemes across the UK and Ireland."

Tim Mitchell, GSA's Global Head of Real Estate, added: "There's no doubt that the development of Catherine House was one of our most ambitious projects to date, but we're delighted with the results delivered by McAleer & Rushe. We've successfully brought 1,000 much-needed high-specification student rooms to Portsmouth and are proud to have given such an iconic building a second lease of life. Feedback from our residents living there has been outstanding!"

(CM)