A 7 day challenge to complete ‘the End 2 End’ – the mammoth 900 miles ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End on a road bike. They travelled from the Lochs and Mountains of Scotland, to the beautiful landscape of the Cumbrian Lake District, through the gentle rolling tranquil Wye valley and onto the rugged Cornish Coast Line.

Damian comments ‘we’ve just finished building a remarkable and award winning ‘green home’ 1 ZERO 4… the End 2 End ride is not only a fantastic cause – but it is also a fitting mark of recognition to our commitment to green and eco policy employed within LaROCK, it doesn’t get much more eco friendly than traveling the land by bike.

Damian and Tom have also been awarded the trophy for 2011 by Wooden Spoon for raising the most funds. LaROCK have raised a total of £8,500 (and rising) for the Wooden Spoon charity who campaigns to improve the quality and prospect of life for UK children and young people who are disadvantaged physically, mentally or socially.

For more information on the wooden Spoon Charity please click here

Click here to see the full winning line up and the winning picture of Damian Lawrance and BBC’s Bill Turnbull after LaROCK scooped Best Residential for 1ZERO4. (scroll to page 12)

LaROCK’s task was to create a luxury eco home. The unique triumph has been achieved using a huge amount of creativity, imagination and ingenuous application of advanced building techniques and seamless ‘anti-ageing’ technology.

The scheme is situated in Harrogate, a city known for its ambient beauty and vernacular architecture. The house started life as a three bedroomed single storey cottage, built in the 1960s and occupied by the same resident for 30 years. The plot area has remained exactly the same as the former cottage.

However, the property size has increased from 750 square feet to 5850 square feet through strategic layering of floors and
basement excavation. The structure has also been increased from one storey to four storeys.

The building infrastructure pushes beyond sustainable, combining high performance systems with renewable methods, including double air source heat pump technology and solar and rainwater harvesting. Complete home automation, AV and eco technology systems have been amalgamated into a single coherent system, all managed via a centralised AMX control system and iPad technology.

It’s completely measurable at the touch of a button, and even “answers” questions, from how much rainwater has been harvested, to how much solar energy has been generated. In effect, the house actually “thinks” for its owners, allowing

them to live an eco friendly life without even having to think about it.

For the full 5 page feature click here and scroll through to page 19

To view the full article click here

Property Oscars celebrate regional excellence in tough times.

The region’s most impressive property schemes battled it out last night for top honours at the RICS Pro-Yorkshire Awards 2011.

The prestigious property-based contest celebrates inspirational initiatives in the land, property and construction sectors. From an entry of 69 projects from all over Yorkshire and Humberside, 56 short-listed schemes were hoping to win one of the eight coveted RICS category trophies, and the ultimate accolade, Project of the Year.

Winners
The winners of the eight individual RICS awards are as follows:

• Building Conservation Western Bank Library, Sheffield

• Regeneration Granary Wharf, Leeds

• Sustainability Emm Lane Project, Bradford University

• Community Benefit Keighley Campus, Leeds City College

• Commercial Skipton Building Society’s HML Headquarters

• Design and Innovation Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience

• Residential Development 1 ZERO 4, Harrogate

• Tourism and Leisure The STAR Centre, Keighley Campus, Leeds City College

Each winner is also assessed across all categories to decide which one deserves to be crowned Project of the Year. This was awarded to Granary Wharf in Leeds, which beat off fierce competition at the awards’ presentation and dinner held at The Pavilion, Elland Road, in Leeds.

The outstanding design, ethos and build quality at Granary Wharf particularly impressed the panel of independent RICS judges. A trio of buildings – the Mint Hotel, Waterman’s Place and Candle House –is an exceptional development with restored industrial heritage features, including railway arches and the canal dock. The gateway development into Leeds, provides a successful public waterfront area for the community whilst physically and physiologically reconnecting the city centre with the wider regeneration area of Holbeck Urban Village.

Granary Wharf is an outstanding example of regeneration which illustrates what highly skilled and talented people can do in Yorkshire and Humberside. It fulfilled not only the criteria for the Regeneration Award, but also scored highly in all of the other categories, making it highly deserving of its Project of the Year honour. Despite uncertainty within the sector, the standard of entries this year has been exceptionally high, with nominations ranging from innovative small-scale schemes, through to multi-million pound sustainable developments.

Colin Harrop, Chairman Regional Judging Panel and Senior Associate with King Sturge property consultants in Leeds

The RICS Pro-Yorkshire Award winners in four of the categories (Building Conservation, Community Benefit, Sustainability and Regeneration) will automatically be entered into the national RICS Awards, where they will compete against other leading projects from across the UK later this year.

Furthermore, the following schemes were highly commended by the judges:

Highly Commended

• Residential Greenhouse, Beeston, Leeds

• Building Conservation Yorkshire Museum, York

• Residential Norfolk Park, in Sheffield

• Sustainability The Wind Pump, Finningley Quarry, Doncaster

• Design and Innovation Craft Hub Building, Wakefield

The RICS Pro-Yorkshire Awards were sponsored by English Heritage, leading property sector journal, Estates Gazette, audio visual company the R&B Group, commercial law specialists Shulmans and Drivers Jonas Deloitte, the commercial property company.

Source: RICS Pro Yorkshire

The 1 ZERO 4 house by LaRock Construction was recognised for its luxury design, eco-friendly ethos, aesthetic appeal and intelligent application of modern technological processes.

A five bedroom house in Harrogate, the 1 ZERO 4 cocoons its residents in a warm blanket of lifestyle driven technology and utilises numerous green energy sources such as heat pump technology, solar and rainwater harvesting.

Commenting on receiving the award, Damian Lawrance MD of LaROCK Construction, said: “We are delighted to have scooped the win with 1 ZERO 4. We have strived to design and build an outstanding property which was highly advanced in technology and challenging in design.”

“The property draws upon elements of luxury lifestyle balanced with practicalities of a family home. We have invested a great deal of time and energy into creating this ‘super-home’ and the eco elements, build and design set the standard for us as a company moving forwards.”

See the full article here

Think of a British city at the cutting edge of sustainable design and, chances are, Harrogate won’t be at the top of your list.

But thanks to the determination of Damian Lawrance, his 1 Zero 4 residential project is now an exemplary combination of the best in contemporary design and architecture, further enhanced by a suite of environmentally friendly features. 1 Zero 4 received a Pro-Yorkshire RICS award in May, just as the house was completed.

It took a whole year to get the design through the Harrogate planning department (compared with the usual 16 weeks) but once that hurdle was cleared, Lawrance and his team completed the project in 18 months.

‘Eyebrows were raised when the local community found out what we had in mind,’Lawrance confesses. ‘And despite some initial objections, the council made a courageous decision.’

Lawrance’s company, LaRock Construction, was the lead contractor and responsible for both design and build. Before he launched his own company, Lawrance had worked for more than a decade as a designer and developer of residential projects. A wide range of local Yorkshire contractors worked alongside the LaRock team to realise the project’s detailed specifi cation, both in terms of technology and the architectural and interior detailing.

Download the full article here.

This luxury house has plenty of ‘wow’ factor and boasts the latest in green and new technology.

Creative whirlwind Damian is the man behind 1Zero 4 – that’s 104 Leeds Road in Harrogate –a magnificent high-tech, eco house that has just won the Best Residential Property prize at the RICS (Royal Institution of Surveyors) Pro Yorkshire Awards.

The attention to detail that Damian demands and his team at LaRock Construction delivers, along with the property’s innovative design and sustainability, impressed the RICS judges, who recognised that this is a project that has taken blood, sweat and tears.

To read more and to find out more why The Yorkshire Post call the award winning 1 ZERO 4 ‘a magnificent high tech eco house’. please click here and go to page 2.

LaROCK have recently completed the latest addition in their rapidly expanding portfolio, an award winning ‘eco super home’. 1 ZERO 4 in North Yorkshire is an example of the most up to date future-proof building techniques and technology in a residential scheme which has just scooped the title of Best Residential in the 2011 Pro Yorkshire RICS Awards.

Damian has turned his sights to his next personal challenge which is set to be his greatest sporting achievement to date. A 7 day challenge to complete ‘the End 2 End’ – the mammoth 900 miles ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End on a road bike.

In 2010 Damian exchanged one LaROCK for another when he scaled the heights of Mont Blanc and has also run the New York Marathon in 3hrs 47minutes. In August 2011 he is hoping to raise over £10,000 for the Wooden Spoon charity who campaigns to improve the quality and prospect of life for UK children and young people who are disadvantaged physically, mentally or socially.

Damian comments ‘we’ve just finished building a remarkable and award winning ‘green home’ 1 ZERO 4… the End 2 End ride is not only a fantastic cause – but it is also a fitting mark of recognition to our commitment to green and eco policy employed within LaROCK, it doesn’t get much more eco friendly than traveling the land by bike. Tom and I are looking forward to the ride and are hoping to raise 10% of what Wooden Spoon are trying to achieve in their grand total of £100k.’

Damian will be riding with Tom Hebditch from LaROCK and is hoping to smash record times on each day of the challenge.

Damian has a fund raising page where donations will be gratefully received. Please follow this link to donate.