By Katy EdwardsA SEWAGE works is one of five buildings in Suffolk to be judged among the best examples of architectural and environmental design in the UK.

By Katy Edwards

A SEWAGE works is one of five buildings in Suffolk to be judged among the best examples of architectural and environmental design in the UK.

The Lowestoft Waste Water Treatment Centre, along with the Sutton Hoo visitor centre, near Woodbridge, was highly commended in the Civic Trust Awards 2003.

The whole of the £75 million Lowestoft treatment works is enclosed in a futuristic air-sealed building to prevent unpleasant odours filtering out.

Designed by Cambridge-based architect Barber Casanovas & Ruffles for John Mowlem & Company/Anglia Water, the 160-metre-long building features a curving roof that appears to float on glazed walls two metres above the landscape.

Built on a former holiday camp, the plant services Lowestoft, Blundeston, Corton and part of Hopton, as well as seasonal industrial effluents from food processors. It has a capacity suitable for a population equivalent of 405,000.

Neil Ruffles, company director and architect, said: “It is an absolute landmark building in a very sensitive area of landscape. It was designed as a flagship building for Anglia Water to show to clients from all over the world.”

The plant also won a British Construction Industry Award, a RIBA for architecture and was the Institute of Civil Engineers winner 2002.

The visitor centre at Sutton Hoo, the Anglo-Saxon burial ground of the 7th Century kings of East Anglia, aimed to retain the historic character and sense of discovery integral to the original find.

The National Trust appointed London-based architects Van Heyningen & Hayward to undertake the overall planning of the estate, the design of an exhibition hall and visitor facilities, car parking and the restoration of an Edwardian house on the site.

Also meriting a mention at the awards ceremony were the new Cedarwood Primary School in Ipswich, the classroom extension at Bawdsey Primary School and the Boxted and Hartest Institute Repair and Restoration Project.

There were almost 600 entries for the Civic Trust awards this year. The national scheme, run jointly with local authorities, aims to give credit to outstanding new buildings, restoration and other construction projects.

katy.edwards@eadt.co.uk