National planning awards celebrate best of British
The award-winning Victoria Square in Belfast - inside…
...and out
Belfast’s landmark Victoria Square regeneration project has won Britain’s top planning prize.
Master-planners BDP took the silver jubilee cup in the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards after judges declared the scheme an ‘outstanding contribution to both the science and art of town planning, and to community development in Northern Ireland’.
The retail-led, mixed-use regeneration scheme has become ‘part of the city rather than just a mall’, according to judging panel chair Kay Powell, who described it as ‘a visionary undertaking that is a catalyst for other improvements and future developments in the surrounding area’.
BDP Belfast architect director Doug Pilkington said Victoria Square was ‘a great example of private investment which has brought thousands of jobs to Belfast’.
‘But what is most important is that people in Belfast have really taken it to their hearts and that is what we are most proud of,’ he added.
More than 90 planning and regeneration projects from across the UK submitted entries for the awards, which feature categories including sustainable communities, heritage and climate change.
A third of applicants made the final shortlist, ranging from new railway schemes and ring roads to national parks and the 2012 Olympics rowing lake.
The other winners were:
♦ Sustainable communities winner
One Brighton - Brighton and Hove Council
♦ Planning consultancy of the year
Scott Wilson
♦ Town regeneration winner
Ringing the changes: the Ashford ring road project - Kent Council
♦ Rural areas and the natural environment winner
St Davids Gateway and Oriel y Parc gallery scheme - Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority
Commendation
Ceredigion Coast Path, West Wales - Ceredigion Council
♦ Heritage winners
Castle Howard conservation management plan and development framework - Castle Howard Estate
Gardyne's Land, Dundee - Dundee Council
Commendation
Cobham Ashenbank management scheme - Gravesham Council
♦ Planning process winner
Barnsley education sites DPD - Barnsley Council
Commendations
• Householder appeals service - Planning Inspectorate
• Streamlined consultation scheme, Northern Ireland - Planning Service Northern Ireland
♦ E-government winner
London brownfield sites review – Arup
♦ Arts, culture and sport winner
Dorney rowing lake, Eton - Capita Lovejoy
♦ Spatial strategies winner
Solent waterfront strategy - Adams Hendry Consulting
♦ Climate change winner
London rivers action plan - Environment Agency
Commendations
• Sustainable design and construction SPD – Southwark Council
• Moving green roofs into the mainstream - Environment Agency
♦ Equality and diversity winner
Inclusive design strategy and standards - Olympic Delivery Authority
♦ Public realm winner
City of London street scene challenge - City of London
♦ Contribution to planning winner
100 years of planning achievement – Liverpool University’s department of civic design
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