Eight finalists announced for 2024 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence
Eight 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.
“As a jury, it has been thoroughly rewarding to assess many exceptional and impactful projects against our very challenging ULI awards criteria,” 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.”
The eight 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 finalists selected by the jury include a school extension in Austria, 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 reduce air conditioning requirements and a PV system; and a new-build sustainable data centre in Sweden, designed to meet growing demand while addressing environmental impact through measures such as renewable energy and heat recovery.
The Grainhouse, in London in the UK, is 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. ICÔNE in Luxembourg 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.
L’Atelier in Paris, France, is an industrial heritage project focusing on environmental performance, regenerating a former telephone exchange, reconnecting two buildings to create a European HQ for Covivio. In Copenhagen, Denmark, a residential project and concept prototype addresses climate and health challenges by constructing more sustainable, affordable and accessible housing stock using existing materials and techniques.
Minerve in Belgium is a brownfield development creating a new biodiverse and sustainable mixed-use residential and commercial area featuring 330 homes including social and cohousing. And finally, the Polish History Museum in Warsaw is a modern multifunctional cultural facility and regeneration of a 19th-century citadel fortress site, incorporating urban planning and design, and sustainability measures.
The overall winner will be revealed in Barcelona on 16 October 2024 at a special ceremony during ULI Europe’s C Change Summit, which is part of a ULI-led programme to mobilise the European real estate industry to decarbonise.
“Since their introduction in 1979 these awards have become highly recognised in the industry, demonstrating extraordinary achievements in an integrated and collaborative approach,” said Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe. “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.”
