LONDON (14 October 2022) – The 2022 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe Awards for Excellence celebrate three exceptional built environment projects from across the EMEA region. From a shortlist of five finalists, Latitude, Paris, MÉCA (Maison de l’Économie Creatives et de la Culture en Aquitaine) Bordeaux, France, and Norblin Factory, Warsaw, Poland have been announced as the winners.

The ULI Europe Awards for Excellence recognise and award projects that achieve excellence in land use practice, from across the whole project development process, from planning and construction to economic viability, management, and community impact, as well as design.

The winning projects at the 2022 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence are:

• Latitude, Courbevoie (Paris), France (Developer and Owner: Générale Continentale Investissements. Architect: Studios Architecture); a remodelled and extended 1970’s office building – and among the top 15 percent of office buildings in France with least energy consumption per sqm. Thanks to the leadership of the developer, it is Latitude’s successful relationship with its immediate environment that is one of the project’s standout features, bringing more life and energy into this once forgotten area of the La Défense business district.
• MÉCA (Maison de l’Économie Creatives et de la Culture en Aquitaine) Bordeaux, France (Developer and Owner: Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Architects: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group; FREAKS freearchitects; Lafourcade-Rouquette Architectes); a centre for contemporary art that loops together three institutions. The result is remarkable in terms of urban regeneration and a showcase on how to foster exchange, cross-pollination and successful collaboration of cultural bodies. Seldom has leadership and outstanding stewardship of a project been observed at this high level.
• Norblin Factory, Warsaw, Poland (Developer and Owner: Capital Park Group. Architect: PRC Architekci); a multifunctional complex for state-of-the-art offices plus cultural, leisure, and retail offerings. The project is an outstanding example of leadership and responsible stewardship in the revitalisation of our cities. Demonstrating a commitment to inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration, it teaches us that the art of successful placemaking is a fine blend of community building, attention to quality and detail, and long-term operational management.

The winners were revealed and celebrated during a special Awards dinner in Rotterdam on 13 October, following the inaugural ULI C Change Summit on 12 October. All winners will automatically be nominated for the 2022 Global Awards for Excellence, which will be announced next week.

A jury composed of recognised real estate leaders from across the sector, including architecture, commercial real estate, development, investment, property management, public-private partnership, and professional services, debated five finalists and decided on the winning three projects.

“The winners of the ULI Europe Awards for Excellence are all exemplary projects that deserve to be celebrated,” said Lars Huber, Chair of ULI Europe. “All the projects have pushed boundaries and made an outstanding contribution to the communities, neighbourhoods, and cities in which they reside. We wish all project teams the very best as they join the ULI Global Awards for Excellence competition.”

“The winners of this year’s ULI Europe Awards for Excellence exhibited a commitment to best practices and sustainability as well as a dedication to building more inclusive cities through community engagement, contextual design, and innovation. These projects go above and beyond in furthering ULI’s mission worldwide and should be celebrated across the real estate community in the EMEA region,” said Sophie Henley-Price, Principal & Managing Director, STUDIOS Architecture, Paris, France and Chair of the Jury.

“The sharing of knowledge and best practices is core to achieving ULI’s mission. Each of the winners has set a strong benchmark which other industry players can learn from and use as inspiration. And this also applies to the finalists”, said Lisette van Doorn, ULI Europe CEO. “I want to thank everyone who submitted a project, and especially congratulate the winners. We look forward to seeing how these projects continue to have a positive impact in their local communities.”

Notes to Editors:

The ULI Europe Awards for Excellence:

The ULI Europe Awards for Excellence recognises superior development efforts across Europe, Middle East, and Africa in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. They are a regional extension of the ULI Global Awards for Excellence programme, which dates back to 1979. The three winning projects in EMEA this year will automatically be entered into the global awards for 2022, which will be announced next week ahead the ULI Fall Meeting taking place at the end of October in Dallas. Projects and programmes are evaluated on the extent to which they:

• achieve marketplace acceptance/financial success;
• achieve a high standard of excellence in all areas—architecture, design, planning, construction, amenities, economics, and management, etc;
• demonstrate relevance to the contemporary and future needs of the community in which they are located;
• demonstrate innovation, through techniques, processes, or partnerships;
• have a positive impact in their communities and/or immediate context, e.g., by contributing to advancing equity and inclusion;
• exhibit environmental sustainability, stewardship, and resilience; and
• provide models, lessons, strategies, or techniques that can be replicated or adapted.

The Jury:

Sophie Henley-Price, Principal and Managing Director, STUDIOS Architecture and ULI Global Governing Trustee chairs the jury, which includes Clarissa Alfrink, Managing Director Germany, UnStudio; Theodore N. Charagionis, Executive Chairman, Acropole Charagionis S.A.; Marta Cladera de Codina, Managing Director, Head of Iberia, Nuveen Real Estate; Sigrid Duhamel, Global Chief Investment Officer and CEO France, BNP Paribas REIM; Manfred Guenterberg, Member of the Executive Board, Wolfsburg AG; Karolina Kaim, President of the Board, High Level Advisory; Tinka Kleine, Senior Director Private Real Estate, PGGM; Vanessa Muscara, Head of Research & Strategy, Europa Capital; and Petran van Heel.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 46,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. In Europe ULI has almost 5,000 members across 15 National Council country networks. For more information on ULI, please visit uli.org, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.