The winners of this year’s Building London Planning Awards, delivered by BusinessLDN, in partnership with the Mayor of London, have been announced today (Tuesday) at a prestigious award ceremony in central London.
This year’s winner of the Mayor’s Award for Good Growth was Westminster Council’s Ebury Bridge estate regeneration project, which also scooped the Best Community Engagement Outcomes Award for its approach to resident engagement as plans are taken forward to deliver hundreds of new homes.
In the City, awards went to 8 Bishopsgate and a new exhibition showcasing an ancient section of Roman wall alongside other artefacts. In the west of the capital, the 1 Berkeley Street, West End Project and 300 Harrow Road developments were all recognised for their contributions to London’s evolving built environment. And, in the south, a new office development connecting East Croydon station to its local town centre was awarded for its innovative approach to supporting wellbeing at work.
Muniya Barua, Deputy Chief Executive at BusinessLDN, said: “This year’s awards recognise the very best built environment projects that the capital has to offer. These innovative developments are helping to re-imagine city life for the better so that the capital’s urban landscape serves local communities and businesses more effectively. The winners of this year’s awards are helping to build an even more vibrant and sustainable city in which Londoners want to live, work and play.”
Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Regeneration, said: “The last couple of years have been some of the most challenging that the development industry has faced, but this has not dampened the commitment to delivering world-class high quality and innovative projects that showcase the talent and creativity in the sector. I’m pleased to see that all the schemes being celebrated through the awards have been designed to meet the needs of Londoners, businesses and our city as a whole, helping us build a greener, fairer and more prosperous city for all”.
Now in its 20th anniversary this year, the Building London Planning Awards, hosted by Derwent London, celebrates outstanding town planning and creative development from across London’s built environment sector.
Entries were evaluated by an independent judging panel from BusinessLDN and our partner organisations – The Royal Town Planning Institute, the BAME Planners Network, the Greater London Authority and the Planning Officers Society London – who all have unique industry perspectives and brought a vast range of experience to their assessment of each of the schemes.
The winners and highly commended entries of Building London Planning Awards 2024 in full:
Best New Place to Live
Winner: 300 Harrow Road – submitted by Child Graddon Lewis, Westminster City Council and Willmott Dixon – A residential-led, mixed-use regeneration scheme which has delivered more than 100 new affordable homes alongside a nursery, community centre, play area, canal-side café, and start-up office space.
Highly Commended: The Brentford Project – submitted by Ballymore, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Glenn Howells Architects, Maccreanor Lavington and Grant Associates – This project will be at the centre of the revitalisation of Brentford town centre, delivering close to 900 new homes, a refreshed high street, extensive public realm and new leisure and retail amenities.
Best New Place to Work
Winner: 2 Ruskin Square – submitted by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris – An environmentally ambitious, Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Outstanding, ten-storey office development in east Croydon which incorporates features aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of building occupiers, including being one of the first UK office projects to be designed for neurodiversity.
Highly commended: 8 Bishopsgate – submitted by the City of London Corporation, Wilkinson Eyre, Mitsubishi Estate Company, Stanhope and Gerald Eve – A landmark 50-storey tower on the corner of Bishopsgate and Leadenhall Street which provides space developed with a focus on sustainability, and wellbeing, as well as a free-to-visit roof level public gallery providing sweeping views of the capital.
Best Mixed-Use Scheme
Winner: 1 Berkeley Street – submitted by Crosstree Real Estate Partners LLP and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris – This development has transformed two 1970s buildings opposite the Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly into a mixed-use hub covering more than 200,000 sq ft, encompassing office and retail space, the first 1 Hotel outside North America and a publicly accessible courtyard.
Best Heritage or Culture Project
Winner: Vine Street Roman Wall Exhibition – submitted by the City of London Corporation, Urbanest, Historic England and the Museum of London – Located in the heart of the City, between Aldgate and Tower Hill, this exhibition reveals a once hidden section of Roman wall in a free-to-visit, seven-day exhibition displaying a range of artefacts from 2,000 years of history.
Best Project for Sustainable Planning
Winner: 8 Bishopsgate – submitted by the City of London Corporation, Wilkinson Eyre, Mitsubishi Estate Company, Stanhope and Gerald Eve – The project is the first tower to speculatively target – and now achieve – BREEAM Outstanding and is the UK’s tallest EPC A building.
Best Community Engagement Outcomes
Winner: Ebury Bridge – submitted by Westminster City Council – an estate regeneration project close to Victoria which will deliver almost 800 high-quality, sustainable homes, of which the majority will be affordable, including more than 200 council homes.
Highly commended: The Lighthouse Gardens – submitted by Hadley Property Group, Community Sauna CIC, El Cafecito, Elite Project Services, the London Legacy Development Corporation and Brompton – This meanwhile use initiative has transformed a neglected area near the Olympic Park into a vibrant space, hosting a community hub, gardens, saunas and a training and cycling centre.
Best Borough-led Project
Winner: West End Project – submittedby the London Borough of Camden, LDA Design, Central District Alliance, Norman Rourke Pryme, Arcadis and Michael Grubb Studio – The project marks a £40m public realm investment by Camden Council to create healthier, safer, greener streets and spaces around Tottenham Court Road, including the area’s first new park in 25 years: improving air quality, climate resilience and user experience.
Highly commended: Lighting Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) – submitted by the City of London Corporation and Speirs Major Light Architecture – The Lighting SPD will ensure thoughtful lighting design and management in new developments, contributing to a better balance between light and dark in the City.
The Mayor’s Award for Good Growth
The winner for this category is chosen from the above category winners.
Winner: Ebury Bridge – submitted by Westminster City Council – The aforementioned project will also deliver improved public spaces, community facilities and continued partnerships with residents and businesses.