Welcome to Liverpool!
Competition Report
The 5th Annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 International Student Competition, took place at Liverpool John Moores University, between the 9thand 10th November 2017.
As usual, the competition was organised alongside key partners from industry; we were grateful for tremendous support from this year’s lead partner, Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, with, for the first time, valuable commercial sponsorship from PlanGrid enabling individual student prizes to be awarded. In total, 5 industry partners acted as part of the competition judging panel, including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, providing a challenging ‘real-life’ scenario for our student teams.
Most importantly, of course, there was strong and enthusiastic competition amongst the participants, with teams and their coaches drawn from across the USA and Europe, representing institutions in Auburn, Birmingham, California, Colorado, Dublin, Liverpool, Northumbria, Prague, Reading and Salford.
Day 1
The brief (see below) for this year’s project focused on the conversion of the historic Royal Insurance Building in Central Liverpool into a luxury hotel. Working to a strict deadline of 5pm, the students were required to provide a response to a client brief, including creating a full report and headline presentation to be delivered the following day. Teams were required to research the site and the surroundings prior to the competition, and react to a ‘curveball’ released part-way through the project, which focused on the role of English Heritage funding and implications for the construction programme.
Day 2
Following the initial presentations, the first round of judging, and a tense period of anticipation, the teams considered to have given the top four performances were called back for a further cross-examination. This involved an intensive 20-minute Q&A session with the industrial panel, where students were further questioned about their proposals to ensure that their solution could be delivered on time, on budget, and to the quality required for a 4* hotel. The judging panel then retired to consider their final verdict.
The Champions! Auburn University and Liverpool John Moores University
The competition was ultimately won by a superb collaborative effort between Liverpool John Moores University, UK, and Auburn University, USA, with fantastic runners-up working in partnership from Cal Poly in California and Czech Tech University in Prague.
The solo LJMU team and Birmingham City University‘s team placed joint 3rd.
The Runners-Up: CalPoly and Czech Technical University
Joint third place for Birmingham City University and Liverpool John Moores University
After two days of intense work, the students, coaches, and the Region 8 team, then enjoyed a well-deserved celebration in the magnificent surroundings of the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel.
All involved in Region 8 were incredibly proud of the efforts of every single one of the students involved, all showing immense capability to work in teams, under tremendous pressure, and opening their proposals to intense scrutiny from senior industry representatives!
The next ASC Region 8 competition will take place in Prague in the Autumn of 2018. Students or staff who are interested in finding out more about the ASC, or the competition, can visit these pages in due course, or email Nick.Morton@bcu.ac.uk
Want to see more?
Our Twitter feed captured the excitement of the competition as it happened via #ASCLiverpool2017, and can be relived through the curated highlights below:
The 5th ASC Region 8 International Student Competition, Liverpool 2017
Initial Launch details
Date: 9th – 10th November 2017
Venue: Liverpool John Moores University
The annual highlight of the ASC Region 8 calendar, the International Student Competition! This year we visit Liverpool, the world-famous waterfront city, home of the Beatles, and a vibrant and energetic venue for our competition.
Our lead competition partner this year is Balfour Beatty, a major British multinational infrastructure group with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. For the first time, we will also be supported by the RICS, the global professional body for land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
We are introducing three further innovations for 2017, marking the 5th running of the event:
- Breakout rooms for all students teams to work in complete privacy
- Optional coach and partner activities for the first competition day: try your hand at the university’s F1 Racing Car Simulator and Maritime Simulation Suite between 10.00 – 12.00 hrs and 14.00 – 16.00 hrs!
- Parellel first round presentation streams on Friday with an expanded range of industrial partners, allowing us to expand the total number of teams competing without lengthening the overall programme.
Regulations and entry conditions
Please see our dedicated rules page here.
Initial Brief
Please click below to download outline details of the project.
ASC Region 8 Competition Initial Brief Aug 2017
Registration
Please complete and return the form below by 20th October 2017.
ASC-Region-8-Competition-registration-2017
Provisional Itinerary
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Recommended Accommodation
Liverpool is a busy city with provision for tourist and business accommodation. Please see the list below suggested accommodation; please note, the rates are given for information only, to enable you to judge the general standard of the accommodation; it is not in any way guaranteed that these rates will be available!
Further Information
As ever, one of the great joys of the International Student Competition is to introduce you to a new city. Please follow the links below for more information on the history and heritage of Liverpool; for more on its famous football (soccer!) club, this year celebrating its 125-year anniversary; and, of course, for details on our host University.
https://www.visitliverpool.com
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/welcome-to-liverpool-fc
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