ULI has announced 10 finalists in the 2021 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence for projects that exemplify best land use practice from across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. Overall winners will be announced as part of an online ceremony in early July and will be automatically nominated for the 2021 ULI Global Awards for Excellence, which will be announced later this year.
The full list of finalists (in alphabetical order of project name with developers, owners, and designers in parentheses where appropriate) is as follows:
- EDGE Grand Central, Berlin, Germany (developer: EDGE; owner: Nuveen Real Estate; designer: Bolwin Wulf Architekten).
- Ernest the Garden and Ernest the Park, Brussels, Belgium (developers: BPI Real Estate and Immobel; owners: BPI Real Estate and Immobel; designers: A2RC – JASPERS EYERS & ARCHITECTS).
- Gare Maritime, Brussels, Belgium (developer: Extensa Group; owner: Extensa Group; designers: Neutelings Riedijk Architecten and Bureau Bouwtechniek).
- Granary Island—Phase 1, Gdansk, Poland (developer: Immobel Group; owners: Immobel Group (90 percent) and Multibud (10 percent); designers: RKW Architektur + and Kwadrat Studio Architektoniczne).
- Harrow Square, London, United Kingdom (developers: Hyde New Homes / Barratt West London Joint Venture; owner: Hyde New Homes; designer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill [SOM]).
- LX Factory, Lisbon, Portugal (developer: Keys REIM; Owner: Catumbel – Investimentos Imobiliários e Turísticos, S.A.).
- Piraeus Port Plaza, Piraeus, Greece (developers: Dimand SA, EBRD, and Grivalia Properties; owners: Three SPVs, Piraeus Port Plaza 1, 2, and 3; designers: PPP1 & PPP2 ASPA S.A. / PPP3 3SK Stylianidis Architects / PPP2 listed building: Arcastudio / Atema Architects).
- Promprylad.Renovation, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (developer: PrJSC “Ivano-Frankivsky plant “Promprylad”; Owner: PrJSC “Ivano-Frankivsky plant “Promprylad”; designer: architect conception Autor architectural agency “FORMA”; project development managing company “Delta Ukraine”; technical design and engineering implementation: AVG).
- Windmill Green, Manchester, United Kingdom (developer: FORE Partnership; owner: FORE Partnership; designers: tp bennett).
- Wokingham Town Centre Regeneration, Wokingham, United Kingdom (developer: Wokingham Borough Council; owner: Wokingham Borough Council; designer: Benoy).
“The Urban Land Institute shapes the future of the built environment and it is our guiding principle that the achievement of excellence in land use practice should be recognized and rewarded,” said Marnix Galle, chair of ULI Europe. “The EMEA region is home to many projects which push ingenuity and exemplify best practice in land use, and we are happy to promote them so that the industry as a whole can continue to learn from each other and have transformative impact in communities worldwide.”
“It has been fantastic to see such a diverse range of projects all pushing the boundaries in terms of what can be achieved with carefully considered real estate initiatives,” added Giancarlo Scotti, chairman of GCS & Partners and chair of the 2021 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury. “These 10 finalists are leading the way in their respective categories and set an exemplar standard. This year, it has been an even more difficult task for the jury with projects designed and developed pre-COVID but, in operation, will experience a whole new reality which hasn’t even fully come through yet. The process to assess all of the projects that were submitted and to narrow them down to a shortlist has been very enjoyable. We look forward to selecting the winners.”
“We were very pleased to receive so many submissions for our ULI Europe Awards for Excellence competition, which were all to a very high standard,” said Lisette van Doorn, ULI Europe CEO. “The Awards for Excellence program is very important for ULI, as it provides a way to gain recognition for our members for the great work they do and for others to learn from, when developing future real estate projects, especially at such an important yet uncertain point in time, when we know the future will be different from the past but it is not fully clear yet how we will live, work, and play when the pandemic will be over.”
The jury will be selecting winners in the next few weeks and will also consider “special mentions” for those projects that demonstrate excellence in a particular area such as affordable housing, social value, climate change, resilience, sustainability, life sciences, repurposing, creative placemaking, arts and culture, community engagement, health and well-being, and smart technology.
The 23 finalists for the ULI Americas Awards for Excellence have been announced, with the winners still to be determined. The Awards for Excellence winners from ULI Asia Pacific will be announced at the ULI Asia Pacific Summit in May.
