The winners of this year’s Building London Planning Awards delivered by BusinessLDN, in partnership with the Mayor of London, have been announced today (Wednesday) at its prestigious award ceremony in central London.
This year’s winners include the Strand Aldwych, which won two awards — the Mayor’s Award for Good Growth and Best Heritage or Cultural Project as well as being highly commended for Best Project for Sustainable Planning. The development has transformed one of London’s most historic thoroughfares by turning it into a car-free place for people to enjoy and created an innovative public oasis the size of a football pitch in the heart of London to create a safer, more accessible, pedestrian-friendly space.
The Forge has been awarded the Best New Place to Work for providing 139,000 sq. ft. of Grade A office space in the cultural hub of Bankside and is Landsec’s first net zero carbon development. Meanwhile, 72 Broadwick Street won Best Mixed-Use Scheme for its diverse and vibrant refurbishment to enable space for offices, restaurants, retail, fitness clubs, a live music venue and 15 new residential units.
Muniya Barua, Deputy Chief Executive at BusinessLDN, said: “The built environment is the backbone of our city, and the successful projects in this year’s awards show how London continues to be at the cutting-edge of innovative design and planning. These awards showcase high-quality developments across the capital that will help regenerate communities in a sustainable manner, ensuring London continues to be the best place in the world in which to do business, working with and for the whole UK.”
Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, said: “The Building London Planning Awards are a great display of the talent and expertise in the capital’s built environment sector. Planning excellence is essential to delivering the Mayor’s vision for sustainable and inclusive developments that build a better London for everyone. I congratulate all of the winners for helping to create attractive places where Londoners want to live, work and visit.”
Now in its 19th year, the Building London Planning Awards, delivered by BusinessLDN in partnership with the Mayor of London and sponsored by CarneySweeney, celebrates outstanding town planning and creative development from across London’s built environment sector with projects nominated from across 11 London boroughs.
Entries were evaluated by a judging panel from BusinessLDN and our partner organisations — Mike Kiely, Planning Officers Society London, Claire Day, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Ransford Stewart, BAME Planners Network, and Grace Harrison, the Greater London Authority — who all have unique industry perspectives and brought a vast range of experience to their assessment of each of the schemes.
The full winners and highly commended entries of Building London Planning Awards 2023:
Best New Place to Live
Winner: 1 Creekside — Submitted by the London Borough of Lewisham — This project is part of the Building for Lewisham programme, which seeks to address the housing crisis with 10,000 families on the housing waiting list. The Council purchased the site with planning permission and increased the 35% affordable provision to 100%, which will be managed via Lewisham Homes.
Best New Place to Work
Winner: The Forge — Submitted by Landsec — The Forge has carefully curated outdoor and indoor spaces to meet the wellbeing needs of a modern workspace: fresh air, sunlight, green spaces, end-of-trip facilities and extensive cycle spaces in a net zero carbon development.
Highly commended: Henrietta House Reimagined — Submitted by CBRE & Lazari Investments — A full-scale office regeneration involving the demolition of the rear facade of Henrietta House and the erection of a seven-storey rear extension above a service yard enabling 144,500sqft over 10 floors, accommodating 2,000 employees and a greatly improved working environment.
Best Mixed-Use Scheme (sponsored by CarneySweeney)
Winner: 72 Broadwick Street — Submitted by Shaftesbury, Rolfe Judd Planning, Buckley Gray Yeoman
The proposals reflect the diverse and vibrant nature of Soho, characterised by entertainment uses and retail at ground floor level, but underpinned by grade A employment spaces, which attracts office workers, and an embedded residential community.
Highly commended: Soho Place — Submitted by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris — The project aimed to regenerate the east of Oxford Street through exemplary architecture that: creates a mix of uses across the two sites including retail, office, theatre, bar/restaurant and new public space; enhances the London Underground and Elizabeth Line entrances at Centre Point’s new plaza by improving views, connections and pedestrian access between Charing Cross Road and Soho Square, and Creates 209,000 square feet of office space for over 2,000 workers.
Best Heritage or Culture Project
Winner: Strand Aldwych — Submitted by Westminster City Council in partnership with Northbank BID — Once a polluted gyratory, Strand is now a car-free place for people to enjoy. This transformation has freed glorified traffic island St Mary le Strand church and created a unique cultural civic landscape for the world-famous institutions nearby to share. Highly commended: Broadway Theatre — Submitted by London Borough of Lewisham.
Best Project for Sustainable Planning
Winner: SEGRO Park Tottenham — Submitted by SEGRO - SEGRO Park Tottenham is the most sustainable industrial scheme in London, built to the highest of standards, offering 8 units from 6,815 sq ft to 50,050 sq ft and achieving a BREEAM Outstanding rating.
Highly commended: Strand Aldwych — Submitted by Westminster City Council in partnership with Northbank BID — The design replaces hard surfaces with permeable landscaping and water management partnered with increased biodiversity with 17 new trees, 1,025 shrubs, 8,366 herbaceous plants, 37,395 bulbs, 244 ferns, 3,739 grasses and 169 metres grassed areas.
Best Community Engagement Outcomes
Winner: Citizens House — Submitted by London CLT — Citizens House is an 11-home permanently affordable community land trust housing project in Lewisham created and designed by the community where homes are sold to local people at rates linked to average incomes in perpetuity.
Best Borough-led Project
Winner: Putting the public on top: A view for All — Elevated Public Realm in the City of London — Submitted by City of London Corporation — The City of London Corporation has consented 13 free to visit elevated public roof gardens, terraces and viewing galleries in major developments since 2018 borne out of radical new polices to deliver elevated views to all, delivering an inclusive, welcoming City.
Highly commended: Good Growth in Fore Street — Submitted by Enfield Council — A collection of targeted interventions around the high street to empower communities, revitalise the southern gateway into Enfield and create diverse opportunities within a deprived neighbourhood through new spaces for culture, play and work.
The Mayor’s Award for Good Growth
The winner for this category is chosen from the above category winners.
Winner: Strand Aldwych — Submitted by Westminster City Council in partnership with Northbank BID
