Exemplary Design Projects Lead The Way In Urban Regeneration:
Civic Trust Special Awards Shortlist Announced

The Civic Trust, the UK's leading urban environment charity, today announced the shortlist for the Special Awards categories in the 2004 Civic Trust Awards.

The Civic Trust Awards, highly respected amongst architects, planners and local communities, reward excellence in architecture and environmental design. Design excellence is not enough to win a Civic Trust Award; projects are also judged on their relationship with the environment and community in which they are set, and the benefits they bring locally.

This year the awards, which run on a two-year cycle, have looked at projects in the UK's major city and metropolitan areas. Eligible projects must have been completed between 1 January 2001 and 30 September 2003.

This year, there are nine Special Awards categories, each for a particular aspect of the design and development process.

The Special Award winners will be announced along with further recognised Award winners at a gala ceremony in At-Bristol - winner of the Civic Trust Urban Design Award in 2002 - on 24 March 2004.

Vivienne Newlands, Civic Trust Awards Manager, said: "The Civic Trust Awards are about buildings, but they are also about people. They are about how people interact with architecture, and how new - and sometimes controversial - design projects fit with communities and their heritage.

"The short-listed projects are all innovative and exciting - but they have not lost sight of their context."

Shortlisted projects in each category are:

URBAN DESIGN AWARD, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, for the scheme that makes the most significant contribution to the local built environment as a whole:

•	Greenwich Millennium Village: Phase 2, in Greenwich, London (Proctor & Matthews Architects)
•	BedZED (Beddington Zero (Fossil) Energy Development), in Wallington, Greater London (Bill Dunster Architects)
•	Millennium Quarter, in Manchester (Building Design Partnership/Hurd Rolland Partnership/Ian Simpson Architects/Marta Schwartz, Inc)

CENTRE VISION AWARD, sponsored by Waitrose, for the scheme that contributes most to the improvement of a town or city centre:

•	Christchurch, Centre of Excellence, in Belfast (Consarc Conservation)
•	Restoration of Exchange Buildings and Former Eagle Tavern, in Sunderland (HLB Architects)
•	19-21 Stone Street, in Dudley, West Midlands (Geoffrey Bowmen Chartered Architect)

ACCESS AWARD, sponsored by English Heritage, for the scheme that best reconciles the access needs of people with disabilities with the conservation requirements of a historic site or building:

•	Wolverhampton Civic Halls, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Penoyre & Prasad Architects)
•	LSO St Luke's, Islington, Greater London (Levitt Bernstein)
•	Extension to Horniman Museum, Lewisham, Greater London (Allies and Morrison)

CULTURE AND REGENERATION AWARD, sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, for the cultural scheme or development that best demonstrates design excellence in a community regenerative project:

•	Laban Centre, Lewisham, Greater London (Herzog & De Meuron)
•	Gallery Oldham, Oldham, Greater Manchester (Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects)
•	Kingston Communications Stadium and Sports Complex, Kingston upon Hull (The Miller Partnership)

HARD LANDSCAPE AWARD, sponsored by Charcon, for the best hard landscape treatment of a site or area:

•	World Squares For All: Trafalgar Square and Environs, Westminster, Greater London (Foster and Partners)
•	Triton Square, Camden, Greater London (Sheppard Robson)
•	Kensington High Street, Kensington and Chelsea, Greater London (Project Centre)

PARTNERSHIP AWARD, sponsored by English Partnerships, for the best regeneration or development project involving a partnership between the private, public and community sectors:

•	Refurbishment of Brompton House and Sydenham House, Liverpool (Pollard Thomas Edwards)
•	Restoration of Exchange Buildings and Former Eagle Tavern, Sunderland (HLB Architects)
•	The Phoenix Initiative: Priory Row, Trinity Street, Hales Street, Fairfax Street and White Street, Coventry, West Midlands (MacCormac Jamieson Prichard)
•	The Restoration and Repair of Five Arches Bridge, Crayford, Greater London (Waterman Aspen)

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD, sponsored by Aggregate Industries UK Ltd, for the scheme that demonstrates the best application of the principles of sustainable design and construction:

•	BedZED (Beddington Zero (Fossil) Energy Development), Wallington, Greater London (Bill Dunster Architects)
•	Arup Campus, Solihull, West Midlands (ARUP Associates)
•	Greenwich Millennium Village: Phase 2, Greenwich, Greater London (Proctor & Matthews Architects)

NORTHERN IRELAND PUBLIC REALM AWARD, sponsored by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, for the scheme that best demonstrates excellence in design in the public realm.

•	New Bar Library, Belfast (Robinson McIlwaine)
•	Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast (Consarc Conservation)
•	Christchurch, Centre of Excellence, Belfast (Consarc Conservation)

WELSH REGENERATION AWARD, sponsored by the Welsh Development Agency, for the regeneration project that achieves the highest quality of design and promotes broader sustainability objectives:

•	1+2 Callaghan Square, Cardiff (Nicholas Hare Architects)
•	The Swansea Sail Bridge, Swansea (Wilkinson Eyre Architects)

ENDS

Notes to editors

Contact Laura Sangster on lsangster@civictrust.org.uk

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON SPECIAL AWARDS SPONSORS:

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister places strong emphasis on urban design and the contribution it can make to securing a high quality and sustainable environment, both through the guidance the Department issues and its support for design initiatives.

Waitrose, the food shops of the John Lewis Partnership, has 143 branches in the south of England, East Anglia, the Midlands and Wales, dedicated to offering quality, value and customer service. The first shop was opened in 1904, in Acton, by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor. The John Lewis partnership acquired the business in 1937 and the first Waitrose supermarket was opened in 1955. For more information visit Waitrose online at www.waitrose.com.

English Heritage is the government's statutory adviser on all aspects of the historic environment in England.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's aim is to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, to support the pursuit of excellence and to champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries.

Charcon is a leading supplier of commercial hard landscaping products including flag and block paving, kerbing and linear drainage and natural stone. Charcon is an Aggregate Industries plc business.

English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency, supporting high-quality sustainable growth across the country. The four key areas of English Partnerships' activity are: sustainable regeneration, housing, strategic brownfield redevelopment and best practice. We are a key delivery agency for the urban renaissance and the Government's Sustainable Communities Plan working in conjunction with public and private sector parterns. Major initiatives include the National Coalfields Programme, Urban Regeneration Companies, and Millennium Communities. Further information on all programmes and projects can be found at www.englishpartnerships.co.uk.

Aggregate Industries UK Ltd is a leading supplier of aggregates, asphalt, ready mixed concrete and precast concrete products. It is the first major quarrying company to have all its units certified to ISO 14001, the Environmental Management Systems standard. Aggregate Industries UK Ltd is an Aggregate Industries plc company.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has, since the advent of National Lottery funding in 1994, played a key role in enhancing the physical and cultural infrastructure of Northern Ireland. Through the outworkings of its Architecture & the Built Environment Policy it takes a lead in raising awareness on design quality, promoting critical debate and community participation and bringing issues of national importance to the attention of government.

The Welsh Development Agency seeks to put good design at the heart of its economic development agenda, the two being inextricably linked. It seeks to raise the design quality of the developments it promotes undertakes to increase Welsh economic competitiveness and productivity, to improve the quality of life for the people of Wales and to further promote sustainable development.

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