ULI Europe has announced the three winners of the 2023 Awards for Excellence that recognise excellence in land use practice across the entire development process.
The award in the Retail category went to the restoration and modernisation of Mercado do Bolhão, an historic market building in Porto (developer GO Porto – Gestão e Obras do Porto, project owner: Câmara Municipal do Porto; architect: Nuno Valentim, Arquitectura).
The façade and structure have been preserved, reusing original features, and the project has retained most of the original retailers, with rents kept affordable. The market is now experiencing a sevenfold increase in footfall. The jury observed that it has been transformed to answer essential community needs, yet remains true to itself, its people, its architectural charm, and authenticity.
The winner in the Education category is the Scholen van Morgen (Schools of Tomorrow) public-private partnership of public authorities, AG Real Estate and BNP Paribas Fortis, which has delivered 182 individual school projects in Flanders (delegated developer: AG Real Estate, designers: 72 Architectural teams from Belgium, UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands).
The jury noted the project’s unusually large, complex scale, its success in engaging all stakeholders, the social impact for local educational and community needs, while meeting budgets, reducing construction times and costs. The project was also highlighted as an “outstanding example” of how private interest in securing and accelerating public infrastructure may be strengthened and replicated to positively benefit other local or regional economies.
In the Mixed-Use category, the award went to the Stream Building, a new flagship building linking the inner and outer suburbs at the gateway to Paris, France that combines a mixture of uses under one roof. (developer and owner: Covivio and Hines, architect: PCA Stream).
The versatile, hybrid site incorporates sustainability and resilience through its mixed wood-concrete structure, limiting its carbon footprint. The jury noted that Stream responds perfectly to the needs of its end users and is a well thought through, enabling enabling urban life at a Paris entrance-exit road, addressing a diverse neighbourhood, and introducing a vibrant 24/7 focus. The jury also recognised the “very clever” timber structure, its sustainability features including for wastewater and energy, and the team’s leadership.
The three winning Europe projects were automatically entered into the 2023 ULI Global Awards for Excellence and two of them, Mercado do Bolhão and the Stream Building, were among the six winners of the ULI Global Awards for Excellence.
The winners were selected by a multidisciplinary jury of nine ULI members who had served on their respective regional juries, representing real estate and land use expertise, including development, finance, planning, urban design, architecture, and landscape architecture.
