This week, five outstanding built environment projects were announced as the winners of the 2024 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe Awards for Excellence. The successful projects have, respectively, delivered a data center that is powered entirely by renewable energy, reinvented two industrial heritage sites as European headquarters buildings, created a biodiverse and sustainable affordable housing/mixed-use district on brownfield land, and a multifunctional cultural landmark.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe Awards for Excellence winners join Simone Santi, Chair of the Jury, on stage.

The annual award programme focuses on celebrating excellence in land use practice across the whole development process, with various factors including planning, construction, economics, management, sustainability and resiliency, community impact, and architecture and design taken into consideration in the judging process. The five winning projects were announced during the C Change Summit in Barcelona at a celebratory ULI Europe Awards for Excellence dinner:

EcoDataCenter 1, Falun, Sweden (Developer: Eco data center; Owner: Areim; Architect: Nordisk Kombination Arkitekter AB). EcoDataCenter is a new build, sustainable data center designed to meet the growing demand from a diverse range of clients. The project has been designed to address the growing global demand for data while minimizing its environmental impact and carbon footprint. To achieve that, the data center is powered solely by renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro, utilizing nearby renewable energy ecosystems, in addition to the use of low carbon materials in the construction The jury praised the project for being indicative of the future of real estate yet is of an asset class that sits outside the mainstream and is pushing the boundaries. They praised its use of green energy, and of timber to reduce embedded carbon significantly. (Category: Other).

Grainhouse, London, UK (Developer: Hines United Kingdom; Owner: Hines European Value Fund 2; Architect: Barr Gazetas).  Grainhouse is a former Victorian warehouse in Covent Garden that, following a three-year restoration and refurbishment project, has been reimagined to deliver a European HQ for Hines that includes prime office and retail, and consolidates five buildings originally developed in the mid-19th century, retaining original features to reflect its industrial heritage. The jury noted that the project pushes the boundaries of the ‘office of the future’, retrofitting and maximising use of existing assets, and that it represents a great example of how to attract people back to the office, focusing on the staff user experience in delivery of services and amenities. (Category: Office).

L’Atelier (“The Workshop”), Paris, France (Developer: Covivio; Architect: STUDIOS Architecture, Maison Sarah Lavoine & DUX Covivio). L’Atelier is an industrial heritage project focusing on environmental performance. The project regenerates a former telephone exchange, reconnecting two buildings from the 1920’s and 1930’s to create a new European HQ for Covivio that integrates design input from its users. The complex incorporates office, hotel and residential codes. The jury praised this great example of delivering what tenants want, with the project team applying a people centric approach to decision making in the design and delivery of the project, achieving the successful renovation of a difficult high density building space. (Category: Office).

Minerve, Edegem, Belgium (Developer: Revive; Architect: Multiple, including master planner Architecten Achtergael).  Minerve is a brownfield development creating a new biodiverse and sustainable mixed-use residential and commercial area providing 330 homes with a variety of typologies including social and cohousing alongside new and existing sustainability initiatives. It incorporates an environmentally conscious energy policy, utilising residual heat from a nearby factory to deliver domestic heating and hot water, and rainwater collection for reuse. The jury appreciated the innovative solutions applied addressing sustainability, energy and water use, and biodiversity creation to deliver a very sustainable, affordable, replicable, future proofed and nature inclusive project. (Category: Residential),

Polish History Museum, Warsaw, Poland (Developer: Polish History Museum, Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage; Architect: WXCA). This new public museum forms a central part of the public investment project Museum Complex at the historic Warsaw Citadel, one of the largest in Europe. The multifunctional cultural and educational facility incorporates a permanent and temporary exhibition rooms, concert hall for 600 people, cinema and theatre hall, library, conference and learning suites. The jury noted that beyond the architecture and environmental sustainability measures the project is much more than a museum and has been designed to have a strong community impact to create social dialogue to discuss the complexity of Polish history. (Category: Arts & Culture).

The awards jury, composed of real estate leaders from across Europe, includes Simone Santi, Director & Founder, VeO (Italy), and Chair of the 2024 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury; Sébastien 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).

Simone Santi, Chair of the 2024 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury, comments, “Each of this year’s record number of winners exemplifies boldness by raising the bar in urban development. They challenge us to think differently and inspire us to disrupt status quo. From pioneering offices and residential developments to cultural landmarks and technological hubs, these projects stand as proof that when we think boldly, we can create spaces that not only meet today’s needs but also anticipate tomorrow’s challenges. This initiative awards excellence, but excellence is not the end game—it’s the starting point for even greater achievements ahead. Let’s celebrate these remarkable achievements. My very best wishes to all our winners.”

Anne Kavanagh, ULI Europe Chair, said, “What a fantastic showcase of truly impactful and excellent real estate projects that are making great strides in relation to factors such as environmental sustainability and energy use, but also in terms of how they positively impact the communities that they serve. The very best of luck to all our winners as they now enter the final of the ULI Global Awards for Excellence, with the global winners announced imminently.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe, comments, “Congratulations to all our winners and thank you so much to all this year’s finalists, to everyone who entered their projects into the awards this year, and to our distinguished jury. Since its inauguration in 2020, we’ve been able to develop an impressive database of Awards for Excellence winners, which can serve as true inspiration, illustrating where the market standard should be and contributing lessons that can be learned from these exemplary urban development projects. We’re keen to feature and to share these best practices among our membership and the wider industry, and hope this will help to further elevate the market standard for transformative impact in our communities.

The five successful European projects will be automatically entered into the 2024 ULI Global Awards for Excellence, the winners of which will be announced soon.

Ends

For more information, contact [email protected]

Notes to Editors

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.

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

Project Images:

• EcoDataCenter 1, Falun, Sweden – download
• Grainhouse, London, UK – download
• L’Atelier (“The Workshop”), Paris, France – download
• Minerve, Edegem, Belgium – download
• Polish History Museum, Warsaw, Poland – download