Architects’ AI adoption increases, but work imitation worries remain
30 June 2025
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Laing O’Rourke, Mace, McLaren and WSP among the winners at the Digital Construction Awards
2 July 2025
Laing O’Rourke, Mace, McLaren Construction and WSP were among the big names who won trophies at the Digital Construction Awards last night (1 July).
More than 430 of digital construction’s leading lights attended the ceremony at The Brewery in London.
Laing O’Rourke won the Digital Innovation in Health, Safety and Wellbeing category for its bespoke solution to Risk Assessment Method Statements. Developed in-house, the system replaces inefficient, paper-based processes with an automated, cloud-based platform that ensures real-time visibility of worker briefings and compliance data.
Mace Consult won the Information Management Best Practice category for its work on the Ministry of Justice Small Secure Houseblock Programme. The programme, comprising more than 200 live projects and involving more than 1,000 stakeholders, required timely validation of project information aligned with stringent UK BIM Framework and 19650 standards. Mace led a transformative solution using Morta, automating validation of more than 13,000 information items across eight prison sites and three tier one contractors.
McLaren emerged victorious in the immensely competitive Digital Team of the Year category, sponsored by Digital Construction Week. The contractor’s digital information management team has succeeded in delivering user-friendly systems and driving culture change, elevating the status of information management and data across McLaren.
WSP won two awards. Its first of the night was in the Design Innovation category, in honour of WSP's GRETA system that automates facade analysis using a scalable database of validated performance archetypes. It cuts the time required for thermal analysis of a typical façade bay by up to 85% compared to traditional spreadsheet-based methods.
WSP digital construction consultant Isabelle Barron won Digital Rising Star of the Year, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
The Belfast Grand Central Station won the coveted title of Digital Construction Project of the Year. Translink, Northern Ireland’s public transport body, adopted a strategic, research-led and outcome-focused approach to digital transformation on the construction of the station.
Alconex scoops contractor win
Alconex Infrastructure and Solutions won Digital Contractor of the Year, sponsored by Construction Management. Alconex is an independent utilities connection provider operating nationwide. It launched an app earlier this year, UtiliMate, that connects its workforce to plan, execute, monitor and report on projects in minutes rather than hours.
The Smart Motorways Alliance Programme – consisting of Fluor, Jacobs, WSP, Costain, Balfour Beatty, BAM Nuttall - Morgan Sindall JV and National Highways – won Digital Collaboration of the Year, sponsored by Bluebeam.
The Water Industry Printfrastructure team of United Utilities, Scottish Water, Manchester Metropolitan University and ChangeMaker 3D scooped the Best Application of Technology trophy. The team 3D-printed concrete products on a live wastewater treatment works.
The combination of Chetwoods Architects, the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham won the Delivering Sustainability with Digital Innovation category for its Restore project that integrates non-destructive testing, machine learning and BIM into a web-based generative design tool. This tool enables engineers to assess used steel members, predict their performance and embed them into new projects from the outset.
The Product Innovation of the Year category, sponsored by Digital Construction North, was won by GScan, National Highways and AtkinsRéalis for their AI-enabled muon tomography non-destructive testing system, used to assess bridges for internal damage and differentiate safe bridges from those in critical condition.
BIMBox won Digital Consultancy of the Year for its work on the Frimley Park Hospital. BIMBox developed a data-first strategy to help the hospital: achieving sustainability and CAFM goals; coordinate offsite and on-site modular construction; and deliver the project without disrupting hospital operations.
The remote control tower crane technology from Skyline Cockpit, successfully tested by Winvic, won the Digital Innovation in Productivity category.
SmartViz's savings for Cardiff Met
The deployment of SmartViz’s peel-and-stick sensors at Cardiff Metropolitan University helped the pair to win the Asset Management Best Practice category, sponsored by DC+. The analytics from the sensors enabled the university to save more than £5.1m in capital costs.
The Best Use of AI category was won by BuildPrompt for its work on HS2, automating the analysis of complex verification and validation matrices, and thus turning a two-week manual process into an operation completed in less than 35 seconds.
Finally, Dr Melanie Robinson, associate and strategy lead at Okana was named Digital Construction Champion of the Year. She was described as “an active champion for digital transformation across industry, working with clients and industry groups to demonstrate the value of digital innovation”.
Actress, comedian and TV presenter Sally Phillips entertained the audience and hosted the prize-giving.
The Digital Construction Awards are organised by Digital Construction Week, the CIOB, Construction Management and DC+.
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