Stephen hopes to build on success

Stephen and his team mates at Belfast Metropolitan College were given a project on the rehabilitation of an old house in Belfast.

They had to recommend in a paper report and PowerPoint presentation to judges from the construction industry and their fellow competitors the most environmentally friendly way of carrying out the work.

The group will now represent Northern Ireland at the CIOB UK student challenge in England on March 25.

Stephen, who is in the second year of the Foundation Degree Architectural Technology course at BMC said: “I did not think we had any chance of winning but we put in a lot of hard work.

"The whole event provided us with an opportunity to pit our wits against other colleges and I really learnt so much from taking part in the challenge."

Kevin Lavery said: “The students have put a lot of hard work into the event and we are so proud that their achievement has been recognised. We are looking forward to the challenge of taking on other UK Colleges representing Northern Ireland in the UK and Ireland final.”