Kirkstall Forge wins highly commended award

CEG and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios have received highly commended for future planning at the World Architecture Festival, competing with projects in Paris, Oslo, Bangkok and Moscow.

Jon Kenny, Strategic Development Director at CEG, said: �For Kirkstall Forge to be recognised on an international stage, with incredibly tough global competition, is testament to the hard work the team has put in to create something very special on this brownfield site.�

Kirkstall Forge was the only development in England outside of London to make the shortlist for the World Architecture Festival Awards.

Up against 15 other worldwide developments in the masterplanning category, the flagship regeneration site was showcased against schemes in Moscow, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Oslo, Paris and Shanghai.

The World Architecture Festival celebrates inspiring, outstanding architecture and is the only global awards where architects present their completed buildings and future projects live to a panel of internationally renowned judges from around the world.

Nick Lee, Development Director of CEG, said: �From the delivery of a new railway station and best Commercial Workspace in the UK to the contemporary homes and leisure facilities, Kirkstall Forge is designed to bring to life a connected community for business, residents and visitors. FCBStudios has captured that with an inspiring design that maximises the green space and waterfront opportunity.�

Keith Bradley, Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, said: �The inspiration for Kirkstall Forge is taken from local historic model villages such as Saltaire and the hillside terraced streets found in many Yorkshire towns. This reference to the best of the past is combined with a contemporary vision for a 21st Century neighbourhood making this new settlement both authentic and progressive. A beautiful urban village for a new generation to live, work and explore.�

The first commercial development on site, Number One, Kirkstall Forge, has scooped many awards this year, including:

  • The British Council of Offices best UK �Commercial Workplace� award
  • The Property Week inaugural �Property Wellbeing� award in a very competitive shortlist that included half a dozen prestigious London West End developments
  • Project Award at the national Housing Design Awards where judges commended the contemporary design of the homes, combined with proposals for leisure, retail and office, offering a smaller scale trailblazer for the NHS�s Healthy New Towns Programme
  • The RICS Yorkshire and Humber �Commercial� award
  • The national Office Agents Society Development Awards �Best New Build outside Central London� award against other high-quality schemes.

Ultimately the �400million Kirkstall Forge 57-acre site will comprise 1,050 homes and 300,000 sq ft of high quality offices and 100,000 sq ft of leisure, shops and restaurants. The oldest continually industrialised UK site, its revitalisation intertwines placemaking, industrial heritage, sustainability, cultural values and quality, providing arguably one of the largest and most inspiring regeneration projects in the North of England.