TWO schools were shortlisted for a Project of the Year Award.

The £37 million redevelopment project of Queen Elizabeth High School and Hexham Middle School was shortlisted for the Project of the Year (£20m to £50m) at the Construction News Awards 2023, which celebrates the best in the industry.

The project won School Project of the Year in 2022.

Hexham Middle and Queen Elizabeth High School received new school buildings as part of the project, which opened in September 2021.

It brought both schools onto the same site with outstanding new facilities for all students, including new sports facilities that are open to the community.

The new education campus was developed alongside the historic Grade II listed Hydro building, which has been retained.

The schools remain separate and retain their own identities, whilst having the benefit of sharing facilities and sports areas.

Executive headteacher Graeme Atkins commented: Thanks and congratulations to everyone involved in this project. Key to its success was its design so I want to pay particular tribute to Grant Sellars and the team at Ryder Architects and Mike Udall from Oobe Landscape Architecture.

"Also special thanks go to Simon Kitchman, former Chair of the Trust board, and Sarah Sparke, CFO, for their incredible hard work and attention to detail over a two-year period to shape the outcome to be as good as it is, which now serves our community so well and will do for many years to come."