THE team at Westonbirt Arboretum have picked up four accolades at the RIBA South West Awards.

They took home two regional awards, plus the Client Of The Year for their project management of the STIHL Treetop Walkway and Wolfson Tree Management Centre

They also scooped the Sustainability Award for the Wolfson Tree Management Centre.

The respected RIBA awards are given for excellence in architecture, with the aim of championing and celebrating the best buildings and structures across the country.

Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, the charity that supports Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, helped to raise more than £2.4m for both projects.

The chairman of the trustees, Mike Mintram, said: “It’s fantastic for the team to be receiving recognition for all of their hard work.”

The STIHL Treetop Walkway structure has been open for a year offering whole new viewpoint through the treetops for the aroboreum’s 530,000 annual visitors.

And the Wolfson Tree Management Centre has given the tree management team a central location to store their equipment, helping with the efficiency of managing all 600 acres at Westonbirt.

The team estimate that abo ut two 2 hours are being saved every day, which used to be spent travelling around the site to collect the necessary machinery and equipment.

It is fantastic to see both structures receiving such recognition, not only from Westonbirt’s visitors and staff, but from industry professionals as well.

This isn’t the STIHL Treetop Walkway’s first award, having won the Tourism and Leisure Award at the RICS South West Awards earlier in May, Civic Trust Award earlier in 2017 (the longest standing built environment awards in Europe), and an award in the Commercial and Leisure category at 2016’s Wood Awards (which highlight outstanding design and craftsmanship in wood).