• ULI Europe Awards for Excellence recognise outstanding urban development projects in the private, public and non-profit sectors, located in the EMEA countries.
• Jury members, consisting of pan-European real estate leaders, have shortlisted ten projects from across the region.
• Finalists include mixed-use projects as well as residential, office, arts & culture and other initiatives.

LONDON (27 April 2020) – The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced ten finalists in the inaugural 2020 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence, a regional extension of the ULI Global Awards for Excellence dating back to 1979, for projects that exemplify best land use practice from across the EMEA region. Overall winners will be announced later in the year.

A jury, made up of ULI members from across the pan-European real estate industry, has selected the finalists and will choose the winners. The members of the jury are recognised leaders drawn from many areas of real estate expertise, including commercial real estate, finance, architecture, land planning and development, and professional services.

The judging panel is chaired by Giancarlo Scotti, Chairman of GcS& Partners and a former Chair of ULI Italy, and the jury includes Clarissa Alfrink, Avison Young; Germain Aunidas, AXA Investment Managers; Tom Cartledge, Handley House; Theodore Caragionis, Charagionis Group; Sigrid Duhamel, BNP Paribas REIM France; Manfred Guenterberg, Wolfsburg AG; Sophie Henley-Price, STUDIOS Architecture; and Tinka Kleine, PGGM.

The full list of finalists (developers, owners and designers in parentheses where appropriate) are:

• Circl – a building that became a movement, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Developer: BAM, Bunnik. Owner: ABN AMRO. Architect: de Architekten Cie)

• Fenix I, Katendrecht, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Developer: Heijmans Vastgoed B.V. Owners: Holland Immo Group (parking); APF International (commercial and cultural plinth); Syntrus Achmea Real Estate (78 apartments rent). Architect: Mei Architects and Planners)

• The Line, London, United Kingdom (supported by Architect: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners)

• The Student Hotel (“TSH”), Florence, Italy (Developer and owner: The Student Hotel. Architect: Archea Associati)

• The Stratford (formerly known as “Manhattan Loft Gardens”), London, United Kingdom (Developer and owner: Manhattan Loft Corporation. Architect: Skidmore Owings & Merrill (Europe) LLP)

• Eddington Masterplan, Cambridge, United Kingdom (Developer and owner: University of Cambridge. Architect: Aecom Masterplanning – Masterplan Lead)

• Victoria Yards, Johannesburg, South Africa (Developer: Mr Brian Green. Owner: Victoria Yards (Pty) Ltd. Masterplan and Architectural Guidelines: Daffonchio and Associate Architects. Architect: Boom Architects)

• Triodos Bank – de Reehorst, Utrecht, The Netherlands (Developers: EDGE. Owner: Triodos Bank. Architects: Rau Architects and Ex Interiors)

• EKLA, Brussels East-Flanders, Belgium (Developer and owner: Revive. Architect: B2ai)

• Wohnquartier Guter Freund, Aachen North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (Developer: Landmarken AG. Owner: Guter Freund Vermögensverwaltung GmbH & Co. KG. Architect: pbs architekten Gerlach Wolf Böhning Planungsgesellschaft mbH)

“The Urban Land Institute provides leadership in the responsible use of land and therefore it is a guiding principle that the achievement of excellence in land use practice should be recognised and rewarded,” said Jürgen Fenk, Chair of ULI Europe. “The EMEA region is home to many projects which push ingenuity and exemplify best practice in land use, as can be seen among the finalists, coming from different sectors and geographies.”

“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, Chair of the 2020 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury. “These ten finalists are leading the way in their respective categories and set an exemplar standard. It has been a difficult but enjoyable process to assess all of the projects that were submitted and to narrow them down to a shortlist – we look forward to selecting the winners.”

“We were very pleased with the number of submissions that we received for our inaugural Awards for Excellence competition, for the EMEA region, which were all to a very high standard,” said Lisette van Doorn, ULI Europe CEO. “The Awards for Excellence programme 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.”

The ULI Europe Awards for Excellence recognises superior development efforts across the Europe, Middle East and Africa in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. 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;
• 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 other communities can replicate or adapt.

The jury will be selecting winners later this year 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 & culture and community engagement.

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