The RICS Podcast What makes an RICS Award-winning project? Lessons from the redevelopment of Newcastle’s Stephenson Building with Saba Nayab FRICS, Simon Allen MRICS and Paul Bagust #225
RICS’ Project of the Year 2025 award went to the Stephenson Building at Newcastle University. It was a redevelopment that excelled in every criteria, resulting in a world-class engineering facility for teaching, research and industry partnerships.
In this episode of the RICS podcast, Paul Bagust is joined by Simon Allen MRICS, who led the team working on the Stephenson Building , to find out how the exciting and challenging project came to life.
We then speak with Saba Nayab FRICS, lead judge in the RICS Awards Refurbishment and Revitalisation category, to discuss what makes a project stand out and why the Stephenson Building excelled.
This episode of The RICS Podcast covers:
- How Newcastle University transformed a 1950s engineering block into a modern, flexible hub for teaching, research, and industry collaboration
- Stakeholder engagement and vision setting to align diverse interests
- Managing complex site and technical constraints, including a constrained urban campus site, sensitive specialist equipment, and a protected tunnel
- Using a bespoke sustainability tracker, strategic reuse of existing structures, and design choices that influence long-term user behaviour.
- What makes an RICS Award-winning project.
Find out more about the RICS UK Awards 2026 here.
Paul Bagust
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-bagust-b0420520/
Simon Allen MRICS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-allan-280673151/
Saba Nayab FRICS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabanayab/
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors:
RICS Podcast Page
Kieran Halliwell