Corus Steel Works project is a winner for Architecture student

Abbas Norozi received the RIBA Student Awards Hadrian Medal, in the category of Part II Student, at a RIBA North East AGM event, just days before taking up a permanent position at North East architecture firm, Faulkner Browns.

The 31-year-old, from Sunderland, was presented with his certificate by Harry Rich, Chief Executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects, at a ceremony in the Stephenson Works on South Street, Newcastle.
The award has been extended this year to Part II students and awarded for the very first time to Abbas – who, in 2007 received the Hadrian Medal for Part I with his scheme for a Neolithic Museum at Lordenshaw.

His winning Part II work is entitled, ‘Teesside Engineering and Creative Centre’ – a project which is located in Warrenby, part of the coastal settlement of Redcar, where the Corus blast furnace was closed in 2010. The decision to cease steel production at this site after 93 years of industry resulted in 2000 job losses in the area.

The Teesside Engineering and Creative Centre project, designed by Abbas is for a facility which enables multi-disciplinary learning by encouraging collaboration between the arts, sciences and engineering. The aim of the Centre is to enhance science and engineering education and resources in the region and to create a hub for local creative industries and facilitate cross-fertilization between arts and science, creative industries and engineering.
Abbas said that his design sought to capture the essence of Tees Valley’s engineering history.

Abbas told us, “The Tees Valley is famous for its heritage of cutting-edge engineering industries. The architectural language of the building is familiar to the people who live and work in the area, but is responsive to the changing environment within which it sits. Architecture fails when it cannot connect to people and their heritage.”

Sebastian Messer, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, said, “At Northumbria University we feel it is vital to deliver projects that are closely connected to place and identity – we seek architectural solutions which are derived from their context and which are unique and appropriate. Abbas has created a fantastic project which fits naturally into its surroundings, whilst simultaneously satisfying the political and economic needs of the area.”