One year on from its official opening, the Ray Hole-designed Hafod Eryri visitor centre on the summit of Snowdon has won a prestigious architectural award.

At a ceremony hosted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Wales (RICS Wales), the structure was awarded the 'Project of the Year' prize. In addition, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), said that it should be one of seven buildings in Wales to be praised for the quality of their design and contribution to the local environment. Pierre Wassenaar, president of the Welsh branch of the RIBA, said that Hafod Eryri had been chosen partly because of the sheer challenge of its construction."It is a tremendous achievement. It would be difficult enough to build on level ground - which they did in fact before dismantling it and bringing it up the mountain - so just from an effort point of view I think it deserves accolades."

Although Hafod Eryri - Wales' highest building - was short listed for the RICS Wales Awards' 'Regeneration' category, of the 15 finalists, it won the 'Construction Skills Welsh Project of the Year.' Snowdonia National Park Authority chief executive Aneurin Phillips said: "We insisted from the beginning that we would have a building on the summit of Snowdon which the whole of Wales would be proud of. Since the opening of Hafod Eryri, the response which we have received from the public has been incredible. Nearly 500,000 people visited the mountain between mid June and the end of October last year, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous year's figures."

The £8.35m centre has been built to withstand extreme weather conditions on the summit, from 150mph winds, an annual rainfall of over 5m and temperatures of -20°C. Construction work was by Carillion and more than 60 per cent of the material and labour was sourced from Wales, including granite from Blaenau Ffestiniog for the walls and floors and Welsh oak for the building's interior walls. Funding was obtained from the European Commission through the Welsh European Funding Office, the Welsh Assembly Government, Snowdon Mountain Railway and a public appeal.