Eight exemplary built environment projects from across the EMEA region have been announced as finalists in the 2024 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence.

The awards recognise and reward excellence in land use practice across the entire development process, considering various factors including planning, construction, economics, management, sustainability and resiliency, community impact, and architecture and design. The finalists comprise projects from office, residential, arts & culture and ‘other’ categories in Austria, Sweden, the UK, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Belgium and Poland, and include cutting edge refurbishment, restoration and new build development projects.

The full list of finalists selected by the jury, including observations from members of the jury, are (alphabetically):

BG/BRG Franz Keimgasse, Mödling, Austria (Developer: Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft GmbH; Architect: Treusch architecture ZT GMBH); A school extension comprising a new classroom wing and triple gym, and renovation of the existing building, and incorporating sustainability measures such as Co2 sensor systems linked to windows that reduces air conditioning requirements and a PV system. (Category: Education/Other)

• “BG Mödling School is an example of the challenge faced by city-center schools throughout Europe of how to keep them local and close to their communities whilst offering state of the art facilities. It has demonstrated that by repurposing and celebrating the old, as well as accepting the technical and spatial complexities of renovating in a restricted and occupied site, one can still answer the social, environmental and urban requirements of today.” – Sophie Henley-Price

EcoDataCenter 1, Falun, Sweden (Developer: Eco data center; Owner: Areim; Architect: Nordisk Kombination Arkitekter AB); A new build sustainable data center designed to meet growing demand while addressing environmental impact through measures such as renewable energy and heat recovery. (Category: Other)

• “The purpose of Eco Data Center is to spearhead innovation in reducing the environmental footprint of data infrastructure while advancing technological innovation. Through strategic partnerships and a pioneering design, EDC aims to address the growing global demand for data while minimizing its environmental impact.” – Simone Santi

Grainhouse, London, UK (Developer: Hines United Kingdom; Owner: Hines European Value Fund 2; Architect: Barr Gazetas); The restoration and refurbishment of an industrial heritage site with sustainability a core focus comprising five buildings stitched together into offices and retail creating a European HQ for Hines. (Category: Office)

• “Grainhouse is leading the way in repurposing and reusing existing buildings in less sought-after areas of the city. Hines is sending a clear message about the future of office development.” – Xavier Denis

ICÔNE, Belval, Luxembourg (Developer: BESIX RED Luxembourg; Owner: AG Real Estate; Architect: Foster + Partners, Beller Francois Fritsch); Part of the rehabilitation of a former industrial area, ICÔNE is a workspace development that integrates with the urban landscape and is designed to focus on natural light and wellbeing, incorporating active and passive sustainability measures and flexible spaces for co-working and nomadic working. (Category: Office)

• “This outstanding office is designed as a friendly village, with lots of daylight, open air, inner streets and squares to work, relax and meet. A calming and at the same time a business atmosphere in the heart of this innovation district.” – Brigit Gerritse

L’Atelier (“The Workshop”), Paris, France (Developer: Covivio; Architect: STUDIOS Architecture, Maison Sarah Lavoine & DUX Covivio); An industrial heritage project focusing on environmental performance, regenerating a former telephone exchange, reconnecting two buildings to create a European HQ for Covivio that integrates design input from users. (Category: Office)

• “This building redevelopment ticks all the boxes of the new ways of working, blending modern amenities, modern designs with the city’s historical heritage and legacy. Furthermore, it’s been designed to change all the codes of a traditional office building making it future ready and a real benchmark for the future of office.” – Sebastien Chemouny

Living Places Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (Developer: VELUX Group; Architect: EFFEKT architects); A residential project and concept prototype to address climate and health challenges by constructing more sustainable, affordable and accessible housing stock using existing materials and techniques. (Category: Residential)

• “This project tackles one of the biggest challenges of our industry: the need to develop higher quality residential assets at scale, with a low embodied carbon footprint and at moderate costs. VELUX ambitious gameplay is open sourced to developers and offer hope to households and municipalities impacted by lack of supply of affordable residential units” – Simone Pozzato

Minerve, Edegem, Belgium (Developer: Revive; Architect: Multiple, including master planner Architecten Achtergael); A brownfield development creating a new biodiverse and sustainable mixed-use residential and commercial area featuring 330 homes including social and cohousing. (Category: Residential)

• “Minerve is a great response to urban challenges and the need for qualitative & affordable residential projects. It showcases excellence in sustainability and urban regeneration with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. – Xavier Denis

Polish History Museum, Warsaw, Poland (Developer: Polish History Museum, Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage; Architect: WXCA); The development of a modern multifunctional cultural facility and regeneration of a 19th-century citadel fortress site, incorporating urban planning and design, and sustainability measures through materials and technology solutions. (Category: Arts & Culture)

• “The Polish History Museum has displayed excellence in all areas, from powerful yet inclusive architecture, to reasoned sustainable strategies, regenerative placemaking and an extensive multi-generational education program. More importantly, and so relevant today, is its cultural significance and mission, one that stretches beyond Warsaw and is a powerful vector for change”. – Sophie Henley-Price

The overall winner/s will be revealed in Barcelona on 16 October 2024 at a special dinner taking place during ULI Europe’s C Change Summit, which is part of a ULI-led programme to mobilise the European real estate industry to decarbonise.

The awards jury, composed of real estate leaders from across the built environment, has selected the finalists and will next determine the overall winners for the EMEA region. The jury includes Simone Santi, Director for Origination – Europe and UK, Lendlease Services (Italy), and Chair of the 2024 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury; Sebastien Chemouny, Directeur Général, Ofi Invest Real Estate SAS (France); Xavier Denis, Founder, Castlight (Belgium); Brigit Gerritse, Head of Research & Strategy, Redevco (Netherlands); Sophie Henley-Price, Principal and Managing Director, STUDIOS Architecture (France/UK); Karolina Kaim, CEO, Blueprint Group Sp z oo (Poland); Jorge Pérez de Leza Eguiguren, CEO, Metrovacesa, S.A. (Spain); Simone Pozzato, Senior Managing Director, Hines Europe Ltd (UK); Dan Ringelstein, Director – Master Planning and Urban Design – Cities, Planning and Design, Arup (UK); and, Jörn Walter, former Chief Planning Officer, City of Hamburg (Germany).

“As a jury, it has been thoroughly rewarding to assess many exceptional and impactful projects against our very challenging ULI awards criteria, and I am grateful to everyone who entered this year, said Simone Santi, Chair of the 2024 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury. “This year we have selected eight exemplary projects as our finalists, all of which demonstrate innovative approaches and solutions to achieving excellence in land use, elevate real estate practices, and reflect many of ULI’s mission priority areas.”

Anne Kavanagh, ULI Europe Chair, said: “The Awards for Excellence deservedly recognise and showcase a very high standard of best practice in the industry, celebrating projects that are impactful in our communities, and offering impressive solutions to many of the key challenges we as an industry need to address, such as decarbonisation and net zero, and availability and affordability of housing. We can all learn from, and be inspired by, such impactful projects. My best wishes go to all the project teams as they look forward to the final stage of the competition in October.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe CEO, said: “Since their introduction in 1979 these awards have become highly recognised in the industry, demonstrating extraordinary achievements in an integrated and collaborative approach, across stakeholders, towards land use, development and operational management of real estate projects. Past winners have served as inspiration for future development opportunities, based on the best practices they have demonstrated, and innovative practices applied. This year, once again, we received an exceptional standard of entries, and we encourage the industry to engage with the finalists to learn and share their best practices, as the current challenges the industry faces can only be tackled through active collaboration and learning.”

The ULI Europe Awards for Excellence recognises superior development efforts in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Projects and programmes are evaluated on the extent to which they:

• achieve market acceptance/financial success;
• demonstrate leadership through 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;
• have a positive impact in their communities and/or immediate context;
• exhibit environmental sustainability, stewardship, and resiliency; and
• provide models, lessons, strategies, or techniques that can be replicated in or adapted to other communities.

As well as selecting the overall winners, the jury will also consider “special mentions” for those projects that demonstrate excellence in any of the areas focused on by ULI’s mission priorities: decarbonising the real estate sector and accelerating our progress to net zero; increasing housing attainability in communities around the world; and educating the next generation of diverse real estate leaders.

For further information about the competition, please visit: https://europe.uli.org/awardsforexcellence/

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Press contact: Tony Nokling: [email protected]

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 over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
In Europe ULI has almost 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks.

For more information on ULI, please visit https://europe.uli.org