National award wins for Teesside University's Digital Life

Teesside University's Digital Life has been recognised with two prestigious national accolades at this year's Constructing Excellence Awards.

Digital Life achieved double success as one of 15 category winners at the 20th Constructing Excellence Awards 2026. The awards recognise outstanding achievement across the built environment in England and Wales, showcasing regional winners across a range of categories. It follows Digital Life’s success at the Constructing Excellence North East Awards earlier this year.

The annual Constructing Excellence Awards play a role in driving performance and inspiring progress across the sector, with the winners reflecting collaboration, creativity and continuous improvement throughout the construction industry.

The £41.4m Digital Life building opened in 2025 and is an innovative learning and teaching and research facility, incorporating state-of-the-art smart laboratories, artificial intelligence and robotics suites, digital art studios and a multi-functional events space.

Digital Life received the Integration & Collaborative Working award which recognised the involvement of Teesside University, Wates Construction, Gardiner & Theobald, Hawkins Brown, Billinghurst George & Partners, Desco and One Environments on the flagship teaching and learning hub. The judges felt the project demonstrated the benefits of a true ‘one team’ approach.

Digital Life was also recognised with the Delivering Value Award, which also involved the same organisations working collaboratively on the Digital Life project to focus on creating a lasting asset, combining inclusive design, outstanding sustainability performance and significant local economic impact.

The building is the latest development in the University’s transformative Campus Masterplan which has seen over £280m invested which has created a campus to rival any in the sector.

Malcolm Page, Chief Operating Officer at Teesside University, said: "We are all incredibly proud to receive this prestigious national recognition. The continued success of Digital Life reflects the innovative thinking, bold vision and continued commitment to transforming our campus."

Teesside University’s Director of Campus Services, Darren Vipond, said: "We are immensely proud to see our Digital Life recognised not only regionally, but now also on the national stage.

"This double win is testament to the expertise and collaborative spirit of our teams and project partners, who worked together to deliver an innovative and transformative learning environment.

"We’d like to thank everyone involved in bringing this landmark project to life and who played a part in the project’s success."

This latest success takes the University's campus developments awards tally to 21, since the launch of the University's masterplan in 2016.

Patrick Norville, Preconstruction Director for Wates Construction East, said: "The success of Digital Life was built on genuine collaboration. Having already delivered three projects together on campus, we had developed a strong understanding of how to work as one team. That foundation meant we could tackle challenges collectively, make the right decisions together and stay focused on delivering the greatest possible value for Teesside University.

"To receive this recognition at the Constructing Excellence National Awards is something the whole team can be incredibly proud of, and a fantastic demonstration of what can be achieved when client, contractor, consultants and supply chain are united behind a shared goal."