Future Cities Forum Summer Awards 2022

Above: interior of H C Andersen Hus / Hans Christian Andersen new museum at Odense, Denmark (Image credit: Rasmus Hjortsoej - Coast)

Future Cities Forum will be holding its Summer 2022 Awards this week. These awards are to promote excellence and sustainability in the built environment.

This summer projects up for awards will include Chapman Taylor's Xiong'An: masterplanning a new 272 square kilometer Chinese Smart City, Kengo Kuma's H.C. Andersen's House, Denmark and Westminster City Council's development of housing around Ebury Bridge.

Chapman Taylor describes its Chinese masterplan as the following:

'The Xiong'an New Area is a government-supported urban development project that will create a high-quality, efficient and smart city environment. It incorporates technology and environmentally sustainable designs. More than 10 years ago, central government started to become aware of the issue that many key resources are condensed into the capital city, Beijing, leading to congestion and pollution. Beijing has seen a population explosion and a housing shortage. In future the city will become the political centre, house the international communication exchange centre, the national and cultural centre and the scientific and technical creative centre. Xiong'an will be built adjacent to Beijing, 20 minutes on the express rail from Tianjing and close to Daxing Airport.' Chapman Taylor says it concept was to build a 'city with a heart' with people at its centre but also a sponge city with water and greenery intertwined.

Kengo Kuma's H.C. Andersen's House, Odense, Denmark, is inspired by of the story writers fairy tales, complete with museum building and garden to light the imagination. The architect took the story 'The Tinderbox' to re-imagine an subterranean world and involves underground galleries using new approaches to set design. Spreading over nearly 6,000 square meters, the museum's aim is to constantly create new experiences between visitors and the fairy tales. The site of the museum is the birth place of Hans Christian Andersen and it sits between a residential area of medieval houses and the new urban area of Odense.

Westminster City Council's development of housing at Ebury Bridge will be largely car-free with disabled parking only. Both pedestrian and cycle transport will be a top priority with more than 2,000 cycle spaces. The newly built houses will use 90 per cent less carbon than the existing estate and grey water recycling will be used for household functions, in line with Westminster City Council's plans to be carbon net zero by 2040. As well as the creation of 781 homes, of which more than 50% will be affordable, there will be a new community hub, nursery and fitness centre for residents and visitors, and four high-quality public squares created with play features. An extended high street with new local shops and cafes on Ebury Bridge Road has also been approved and there will be new places to work including flexible workspace at the new northern gateway.

The projects, winners and runners-up will be displayed on our awards page following judging this week.

The all-female line up of judges includes:

Marcelina Zielinska, Director, Chapman Taylor

Christina Calderato, Director of Transport Planning & Strategy, Transport for London

Ellie Evans, Managing Partner, Volterra Partners

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader, Blackpool Council

Claudia Kenyatta, Head of Regions, Historic England

Helen Taylor, Director of Practice, Scott Brownrigg

Anna Shapiro, Partner, Sheppard Robson

Vanessa Lefrancois, Chief Executive, Oxford Playhouse

Esther Croft, Development Director, Reef Group

Nicola Longland, Associate, LDA Design (and Member of Cambridge Design Review Panel)

Below: Xiong'an, China, new area district master-plan, garden illustration (Chapman Taylor)