BOURNEMOUTH planning and design firm Terence O’Rourke has broken ground on a major events venue which has already won it an award.

Work has started on the building at the TAG Farnborough Airport, which earned the company the Best Use of IT in a Construction Project 2016 title at the recent Construction Computing Awards.

The same ceremony saw the Editor’s Choice Award go to Vectorworks UK’s Building Information Modelling (BIM) software, used by the Terence O’Rourke designers.

Designed and planned by Terence O’Rourke, Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre will be the size of approximately three football pitches.

There will be a 12,500sqm dividable exhibition hall, 20,000sqm of accommodation space, 2500 conference seats and nine multi-purpose function rooms.

The new building will cater for exhibitions, conferences, meetings and corporate events. It is funded by the Barclays, Hampshire County Council, Rushmoor Borough Council and Enterprise M3 LEP.

It is scheduled to open in early 2018.

Terence O’Rourke’s architectural design mimics the passage of airflow over a wing and took its inspiration from Farnborough’s long association with aircraft design, testing and development, along with the iconic buildings of TAG Farnborough Airport and the Aviator Hotel.

Terry Williams, director at Terence O’Rourke, said: “We are very proud to be associated with such a prestigious project, bringing Farnborough International into a new era and establishing it as a major new event venue in South East England.”