FUTURE CITIES FORUM Summer Awards 2023
The 21 shortlisted projects across 7 categories of the built environment were assessed and judged by an all-female panel on 14th June 2023 in the Nash Room at the Haymarket Hotel:
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Ellie Evans, Managing Partner, Volterra Partners,
Ruchi Chakravarty, Head of Place Shaping, Westminster City Council
Amanda Saunders, Development Director, Royal Opera House
Heather Topel, Director of Development, Grosvenor Property (UK)
Nyasa Beale, Director, Scott Brownrigg,
Ros Lawler, COO, National Portrait Gallery
Claire Clement, Associate, HOK
Kelsey Stewart, Associate Partner, Pilbrow & Partners
Olivia Forty, Associate, Wright & Wright
1
Theatre projects
Cultural organisations have been relieved to see the back of Covid-19 restrictions, but many have been left with hefty debts. Covid-19 has shown us however just how vital accessible cultural infrastructure (galleries, museums, theatres, live music and performance venues) is to human health and well-being as well as the prosperity and attractiveness of cities. As well as recovery in footfall, do they have practical strategies to open out to communities beyond their physical walls and how are they doing this? Are there awards to be given for those projects that protect cultural heritage while modernizing for new audiences? Do they act as modern cultural anchors for the confident self-expression, brand, and identity of their districts and cities?
Brixton House: a new home for the Ovalhouse Theatre
Brixton House (Foster Wilson Size Architects for Lambeth Council and Brixton House) – a new home for the Ovalhouse theatre, and part of a Lambeth Council project to regenerate the Somerleyton Road area, near the Brixton Covered Market, with new homes, workspaces and a cultural anchor.
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Soho Place - creation of a replacement theatre by Tottenham Court Road station
Soho Place (Derwent London and Nimax Theatres) – creation of a replacement theatre as part of the Tottenham Court Road Cross Rail station development, which involved demolition.
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Soho Place – Office Projects – Allford Hall Monaghan Morris | AHMM
WINNER
Contact Theatre Manchester
Contact Theatre, Manchester - extension and re-modelling of an important 1999 theatre (Sheppard Robson for Contact Theatre). Contact - founded in 1972 - was redeveloped and re-opened as an arts venue for young people following a £5 million Arts Council England grant. It was RIBA building of the year in 1999.
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Contact Manchester Ethos | Contact, Manchester (contactmcr.com)
2
Science cities:
healthcare and hospital projects
This summer 2023 we are using our science cities category to look at hospital development as the extending of hospital buildings or the creation of new healthcare facilities is very much in the news. How can the design of new hospital buildings serve patients’ needs more effectively, how does the design fit in with the surrounding environment, how have architects pushed the boundaries on net zero considerations?
University College London Hospital Phase 5
For UCLH the practice designed a new specialist facility for ear, nose, and throat medicine: Phase 5. The site on Huntley Street is set at the heart of the Bloomsbury Conservation Area adjacent to listed residential neighbours.
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UCLH Phase 5 | Pilbrow & Partners | Listed Buildings (pilbrowandpartners.com)
WINNER
A new children's hospital for Cambridge
Cambridge Children’s Hospital (Cambridge University Health Partners – design team: White Arkitekter with Hawkins Brown, MJ Medical and Ramboll)
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Plans for children’s hospital progress for 2023 | Cambridge Children's (cambridgechildrens.org.uk)
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UPMC Mercy Hospital Vision and Rehabilitation tower
UPMC Mercy Hospital (Pittsburgh) – new facility and rehabilitation building for people with impaired vision – HOK with Chris Downey
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UPMC Mercy Opens Revolutionary Vision and Rehabilitation Facility - HOK
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3
Master-planning, regeneration & mixed use
In this category, we are looking at the sustainability of districts. What will survive as a piece of ‘leading planning and design’ that generations will look back at as outstanding? What are the characteristics of places that people love to both live and work in? How important is biodiversity and re-designing car dominated districts?
Gilston Park: plan for new homes, adjacent to Harlow
Gilston Park – East of England Plan for new homes in collaboration with East Hertfordshire Council supporting Harlow’s regeneration (MICA and Grimshaw).
The proposal for 10,000 homes to the north of Harlow is part of the East of England Plan to provide new homes, jobs, investment and prosperity to Harlow and the surrounding areas of Essex and Hertfordshire. The illustrative master plan delivers high quality homes across a spectrum of tenures, while developing only one-third of the available land, sustainably planned to meet identified housing needs and to help with the regeneration of Harlow.
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Forum Gloucester and city centre campus development
City Centre campus and King’s Quarter district development (‘Forum Gloucester’) – including Debenhams remodelling and King’s Square regeneration (Gloucester City Council with University of Gloucestershire / ADP Architecture, and Reef Group)
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WINNER
Blackwall Yard - reviving a Thames-side district
Blackwall Yard – London. Thameside mixed-use redevelopment of an unloved piece of city, including a historic ‘graving’ dock, opposite the O2 Arena (Hadley Property Group / LDA Design / Tower Hamlets Council)
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4
Hotels
Hotels are often the anchor for major developments in cities, but are they sustainable in design? There is a new awareness of how important it is to make travel and ‘city stays’ eco-friendly. How are hotels now being designed to consider climate change, and how can new hotels (be they conversions of department stores / heritage buildings or new structures) help re-invigorate the centre of cities, and high streets?
Green walls set a standard for hotels
Citicape House, by Holborn Viaduct, City of London (Dominus Group / Sheppard Robson)
The hospitality-led, mixed-use proposal is characterised by the largest green wall in Europe. The 382-key, five-star hotel proposes 40,000sqft of workspace, a sky-bar on the tenth floor, meeting and events space, spa and ground level restaurant and co-working space. Situated on a prominent site on Holborn Viaduct at the gateway of the City’s “Culture Mile,” the building would create an opportunity to broadcast fresh ideas about how the built environment can address pertinent issues such as air quality, climate change and air pollution.
House of Fraser Exeter remodelled as Hotel Indigo
Hotel Indigo, Exeter – transformation of redundant House of Fraser on Exeter High Street (Prydis)
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Exeter's empty House of Fraser will become boutique Hotel Indigo - Devon Live
WINNER
Edinburgh Princes Street icon to be transformed
Jenners Department Store, Princes Street, Edinburgh – conversion into hotel, bars and restaurants (David Chipperfield Architects with 3D Reid and Loader Monteith for Frasers Group)
Jenners • David Chipperfield Architects
Planning approval for Jenners restoration in Edinburgh | 3DReid
5
Sports stadiums, community and regeneration
Hotels are often the anchor for major developments in cities, but are they sustainable in design? There is a new awareness of how important it is to make travel and ‘city stays’ eco-friendly. How are hotels now being designed to consider climate change, and how can new hotels (be they conversions of department stores / heritage buildings or new structures) help re-invigorate the centre of cities, and high streets?
Villa Park: opening up the fortress site
Birmingham – Villa Park (Aston Villa FC / Grimshaw / Trivandi) – Project Architect Sarah Williams of Grimshaw
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Peterborough's stadium in the park
Peterborough – River Nene Park regeneration and new stadium for Peterborough FC (‘The Posh’)
WINNER
Building a stadium on a historic dock
Liverpool – Bramley-Moore Dock (Everton FC / Dan Meis Architects)
6
Future work places
What are the design ingredients that will draw employees back to the office? How do these new designs embrace health and wellbeing with break-out spaces? How are they integrated into their surroundings? Can we give new life to unloved buildings? Can architects re-purpose cost-effectively (and with carbon awareness) rather than demolish?
Typhoo Wharf remodelling for BBC Birmingham
BBC Birmingham new studios and offices / adaptive re-use of Typhoo Tea Factory in Digbeth (Stoford / Glenn Howells Architects / BDP)
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BBC Birmingham to relocate to Digbeth's Typhoo Tea factory - BBC News
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BDP to deliver regeneration of Typhoo Wharf for new BBC broadcasting house in Birmingham
New home for Sony Music at King's Cross
Sony Music HQ at King’s Cross, London (MoreySmith for Sony)
Sony Music KX
(Image of Sony Music KX from Billy Bolton)
Sony Music HQ | Kings Cross - MoreySmith - Sony Music HQ | Kings Cross
WINNER
Historic Whitechapel hospital remodelled as new Tower Hamlets Town Hall and additional work spaces
New town hall and offices for London Borough of Tower Hamlets in remodelled Royal London Hospital building (Bouygues UK and AHMM for Tower Hamlets Council)
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Our New Town Hall story (towerhamlets.gov.uk)
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7
Place-making and healthy streets
Cities are working hard to re-invigorate central business districts, high streets and those forgotten side streets with independent shops ravaged by Covid-19, changes in working patterns and the decline of physical retail. How inventive are the projects in concept, how do they embrace sustainability, create free access, and how do they re-connect communities across dividing infrastructure attracting footfall?
Leeds South Bank re-imagined
Aire Park, Leeds (part of Tetley Brewery district regeneration (Leeds City Council / Vastint / Sisk)
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Double delight as work on landmark Aire Park hits two key milestones (leeds.gov.uk)
Newcastle's place-making
Newcastle City Council / LDA Design – City Centre place-making (announced 2021 to complete 2024)
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City Centre Transformation: The Proposals | Newcastle City Council
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WINNER
Strand Aldwych pedestrianisation - safer spaces for students, tourists and local businesses
Strand Aldwych pedestrianization – Westminster City Council, King’s College London, Somerset House Trust, Society of London Theatres, Transport for London and the Northbank BID – and LDA Design (completed late 2022)
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The Making of the Modern City ll - 'New Districts' (futurecitiesforum.london)
