Regeneration partnership of the year

It would seem that Crest Nicholson can do no wrong. A triple winner in these awards, it fought off tough competition to walk off with this year’s partnership prize. The judges described its work with Birmingham council and Optima Community Association on the redevelopment of Park Central in Birmingham as a “genuine partnership involving compromise on both sides”.

And perhaps that is why it has been so successful: it is a company that is practical and realistic enough to turn its dreams into reality. The Park Central regeneration programme will not be completed until 2012, but 300 new homes have already been sold – suggesting that, unlike The X Factor, the public agrees with the judges on this one.

Crest Nicholson’s work with Birmingham council and Optima has created a superb development in Park Central

Runners-up

The London Development Agency appointed Berkeley Homes as its development partner on the massive 15-year project to redevelop Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in 2000 – and since then it hasn’t looked back. Working together, this public–private partnership has delivered more than 300 affordable homes in the first phase of development, created a new urban park and improved the area’s accessibility with the extension of the Thames Clippers Riverline fast ferry commuter service to Woolwich. No wonder the scheme is already being used as a benchmark of best practice.

English Partnerships

Coronation Gardens in Leyton, north-east London, used to be a rundown area with hard tennis courts and a little-used bowling green. Now it is a community sports and health centre boasting facilities that include a floodlit all-weather football pitch, a crèche, a café and a children’s playground. This transformation is all thanks to the teamwork between English Partnerships, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, O-Regen, Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme and the Sports Users Group, all of which deserve a hearty pat on the back.

Higgins Construction

This Essex contractor has forged a rather special relationship with charity CSV – community service volunteers. Between them they are setting up a network of training centres to fill the labour gap in areas undergoing regeneration. In doing so Higgins has earned a place in this shortlist for two initiatives – its work with CSV in general and its particular regeneration of Silwood Estate in Rotherhithe, south-east London, upon which one of the CSV centres has been built and on which local labour was used. What’s more, the use of Higgins’ supply chain for the demolition of the original housing stock saved the local authority £1m, and the homes were built in just 104 weeks, 34 weeks early. And these are achievements that Higgins is, understandably, rather proud of.

Mill Group

The library-users and architecture lovers of Brighton have the Mill Group to thank for their Stirling Prize-nominated library. It was the partnership between Brighton and Hove council and this property and finance group that enabled the Jubilee Library to become a reality. But it doesn’t stand in isolation. As part of the Jubilee Street project, the library sits alongside a new open public space and a large mixed-use development, achieving its aim of re-knitting Brighton’s fragmented urban fabric.

The London Development Agency appointed Berkeley Homes as its development partner on the massive 15-year project to redevelop Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in 2000 – and since then it hasn’t looked back. Working together, this public–private partnership has delivered more than 300 affordable homes in the first phase of development, created a new urban park and improved the area’s accessibility with the extension of the Thames Clippers Riverline fast ferry commuter service to Woolwich. No wonder the scheme is already being used as a benchmark of best practice.

English Partnerships

Coronation Gardens in Leyton, north-east London, used to be a rundown area with hard tennis courts and a little-used bowling green. Now it is a community sports and health centre boasting facilities that include a floodlit all-weather football pitch, a crèche, a café and a children’s playground. This transformation is all thanks to the teamwork between English Partnerships, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, O-Regen, Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme and the Sports Users Group, all of which deserve a hearty pat on the back.

English Partnerships

This Essex contractor has forged a rather special relationship with charity CSV – community service volunteers. Between them they are setting up a network of training centres to fill the labour gap in areas undergoing regeneration. In doing so Higgins has earned a place in this shortlist for two initiatives – its work with CSV in general and its particular regeneration of Silwood Estate in Rotherhithe, south-east London, upon which one of the CSV centres has been built and on which local labour was used. What’s more, the use of Higgins’ supply chain for the demolition of the original housing stock saved the local authority £1m, and the homes were built in just 104 weeks, 34 weeks early. And these are achievements that Higgins is, understandably, rather proud of.

Mill Group

The library-users and architecture lovers of Brighton have the Mill Group to thank for their Stirling Prize-nominated library. It was the partnership between Brighton and Hove council and this property and finance group that enabled the Jubilee Library to become a reality. But it doesn’t stand in isolation. As part of the Jubilee Street project, the library sits alongside a new open public space and a large mixed-use development, achieving its aim of re-knitting Brighton’s fragmented urban fabric.