Sidell Gibson were able to submit a strong portfolio of innovative and highly successful projects in the West Midlands, including Nos 5, 8 and 10 Brindley Place, The Lloyds TSB building at 125 Colmore Row, the master plan and public realm design for Calthorpe Estate’s Edgbaston Mill development and the detailed design of a new Hilton Doubletree hotel and leisure complex which comprises its final phase. Most notably though they are responsible for the masterplan and the first two buildings at Snow Hill, regenerating a key area of Birmingham City Centre.

Sidell Gibson have been working in Birmingham for over 15 years and consolidated their position with the 2009 acquisition of Crouch Butler who have been among the city’s most notable architects for over a century.

The judges agreed that Snow Hill is a massively important scheme for Birmingham and that it was an appropriate time to recognise the firm’s contribution to shaping the city, as well as offering something completely different to the city’s quality office supply.

The Awards were presented in front of a 500-strong audience at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, NEC Birmingham.

The Award is given to the building which is judged by the Assessors to have made the most distinguished contribution to the streetscape of the City of London.

Ron Sidell from Sidell Gibson Architects, the delivery architects on One New Change, collected the award on behalf of Jean Nouvel.

“This is a fantastic and unexpected tribute to Jean Nouvel who can’t be with us tonight and is a major compliment to this collaboration and best practice model. We are especially pleased to win this award, as we see it as recognition for a magnificent building from our fellow architects – a hard crowd to please.”

Replacing the former 1960s Bank of England complex and facing St Paul’s Cathedral, One New Change provides 25,000m² of retail space on three storeys, principally focussed on a vibrant and rich mix of fashion and food, with 35,000m² of office space for 3,000 workers over four storeys.  As a new landmark building, it represents one of the largest consolidated retail spaces across central London, embracing the commercial potential of the city and making a significant contribution to the public realm.

The award was presented last night [14^th March], during the prestigious Annual Livery Banquet at Haberdashers’ Hall, London.

Sidell Gibson, working in association with Avery Associates, have recently obtained planning permission for a prestigious residential redevelopment of Broken Wharf House which overlooks the Thames close to the Millennium Bridge in the City of London.

The new building which will replace a six floor office building dating from the 1970s, directly adjoins Sir John Lyon House an award winning residential building by Sidell Gibson completed in 2008. These are the only new riverside residential buildings in the City.

Together the two practices designed the new  building for Hermes Property Unit Trust creating 36 elegant apartments  with a mix of one, two and three bed units. The current basement will be reused to create 12 car spaces and cycle storage, and a ground floor retail unit is included. The building is designed to Code for Sustainable Homes              Level 4.

Avery’s vision for the narrow, north-south site which fronts onto the Thames at its southern end  gives river views to most of the flats bringing natural daylight into the deep site. The dentated Western façade is shaped to achieve this, a faceted rhythm of transparent, translucent and white glass panels in a 2:1 proportion.  Thick vegetation will climb the full height of the building at two points to disengage the ‘island’ front block from the ‘mainland’ back block.

The Alan Cook Consultancy provided planning and development advice

One New Change was announced ‘Best Built Project’ at last night’s London Planning Awards held at City Hall and attended by senior representatives from the boroughs, City Hall, developers, planners and community groups.

The London Planning Awards, now in their ninth year, are organised in partnership with the Mayor of London, London First, the Royal Town Planning Institute and London Councils.  Their objectives are to recognise excellence and showcase examples that are leading the urban renaissance in London, to raise expectations and standards and promoted awareness of good practice and to improve the profile of planning and the morale of those involved.

The ‘Best Built Project’ celebrates the best completed development which has maximised the potential of the site, addressed climate change, delivered benefits for the wider public, achieved high quality design and enhanced the public realm.  The Sammy Ofer Wing at the National Maritime Museum also received a commendation in this category.

Other winners of top awards included St Paul’s Way Trust School, Tower Hamlets; Highbury Gardens housing development, Islington; Margaret McMillan Park, Lewisham; the ‘Arsenal on the move’ regeneration project, Islington; and St Pancras Chambers refurbishment, Camden.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said, “Once again we have seen yet another stunning crop of entries that showcase the best in urban planning, architecture and design.  From shopping centres and schools, to new homes, parks and museums, all of this year’s shortlisted entries demonstrated a wonderful ambition to make our city an even better place to live, work and study.”

Baroness Jo Valentine, Chief Executive of London First, said, “The London Planning Awards celebrate the best of what can be achieved in this great city of ours – they demonstrate what is possible when we work together to create great buildings, places and neighbourhoods.  This year’s winners are once again outstanding and will no doubt strengthen London’s position as the best city in the world.”

The building, which represents one of the largest consolidated retail spaces across central London, has now won ten major awards since it completed just over a year ago.

With 214,000sq ft of retail space over three storeys, the shopping centre has transformed the City into a successful destination venue.

BCSC Chief Executive, Michael Green, said, “The winners demonstrate that even in the toughest trading conditions in a generation, long-term investment in high quality schemes can reap its rewards. They also show how investment in shopping centres can have tremendous benefits to the wider community too.”

The BCSC Gold Awards are the leading accolades within the shopping centre and retail destination industry.  They are designed to reward excellence in retail-led development and recognise projects that drive regeneration and generate improvement in the quality of the built environment.  Westfield Stratford City won the award for the best mall over 300,000sq ft for its unparalleled scale and the transformation is has brought to East London.

Chris Goddard, Chairman of the BCSC Gold Awards Jury and National Head of Planning, Development and Regeneration at GVA said, “The jury unanimously agreed that Westfield Stratford City and One New Change both represent the very best of innovation, commercial success, design, integration and contribution to wider regeneration.”

Designed for UK & European Investments, the landmark Grade A development lies within the Strand Conservation Area in the City of Westminster and has been completely rebuilt behind its original 1920s Portland Stone façade.  No 1 Kingsway now provides an outstanding, sustainable 105,000sq ft office space, seven high specification residential apartments and an exclusive European style brasserie, The Delaunay.

Following a design agenda driven by comfort, energy and reduced carbon emissions and running costs, the stylish, contemporary building achieved an Excellent BREEAM rating and an EPC rating of A.

Further information:   www.propertyawards.net

Sidell Gibson Interiors always ensures that its clients come first and this has resulted in the company producing an extraordinary diversity of award winning work. The old Porter’s Lodge attached to the southern section of Bedford Park Mansions in  Chiswick is a prime example. This was the first mansion block style building to be built in the area and was completed in 1900. Although the buildings are not listed, the site is surrounded by Grade II listed houses and therefore the redevelopment of The Lodge was subject to conservation planning and consents.

It was subsequently totally remodelled and extended to create a new house to match the surrounding architectural style. The block is built in the Queen Anne style popular in the late 19th century featuring red brick, terracotta reliefs, Dutch gables and crenulated parapets. However, once inside, a minimalist icon is unveiled.

Sidell Gibson believes that the secret of designing the perfect interiors lies in the detail and handling of the space. Within The Lodge, its walls appear to float above the wide Douglas fir floorboards while the ceilings mirror this effect. A simple steel spiral staircase has been created to allow for maximum natural light to penetrate from above. This makes the light dapple and etch a tree-like silhouette on the floor below.
Indeed life inside The Lodge is very much designed to be in balance with nature.

The category remains one of the strongest and most competitive in the awards, demanding a host of talents from its nominated writers, including feature writing, breaking news, investigative journalism and incisive comment.  Its nominees will have a battle on their hands to emulate last year’s winner, Joey Gardiner, writing for Building.  The nominations are:  Nick Duxbury, Inside Housing; Will Hurst, Building Design and Oliver Wainwright, Building Design.

The winner will be announced at a lively presentation dinner hosted by Peter Murray of New London Architecture on 24^th November at Chelsea Football Club, Stamford Bridge.

www.ibp.org.uk

By no means the biggest job we have done but still a fascinating and satisfying one, the restoration of the Victorian conservatory at The Cedars, Chorleywood has been successfully completed. This is not Kew or Sion House but it is still a very large piece of historical metalwork with parts reputedly copied or borrowed from the Crystal Palace.

Originally a house for the governor of the Bank of England, The Cedars these days is the centrepiece of a large retirement village and the newly restored conservatory is a fantastic facility for the residents who can be seen here enjoying themselves at the grand re-opening.

David Taylor, editor of New London Quarterly, presenting the award to Colette O'Shea, Head of Development at Land Securities and Sanya Tomic, Partner at Sidell Gibson Architects

One New Change has been honoured as one of the capital’s best projects in London’s built environment, winning the award for the ‘Shopping’ category at the inaugural New London Awards, held on 12^th July at The Guildhall in London.

Project partner Sanya Tomic said, “We are pleased that the judges have recognised the unique contribution that One New Change has made to the City and it’s immediate surroundings as well as the respect it pays to St Paul’s Cathedral.

The New London Awards have been introduced by New London Architecture to celebrate the best built and unbuilt schemes within the capital, providing recognition not only for their architectural quality, but also for their impact on their surroundings and their contribution to London.  The entries were judged by a panel of international experts in the fields of architecture and urban design including David J Burney, Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Design and Construction; Dominique Alba, Director of the Pavillon de L’Arsenal in Paris; Riccardo Marini, City Design Leader of Edinburgh City Council; Peter Bishop, Director of Allies and Morrison; Edwin Heathcote, Architecture & Design Critic at The Financial Times and David Taylor, Editor of NLA’s magazine New London Quarterly.

NLA Chairman and Chair of the judging panel Peter Murray, announcing the awards on NLA’s sixth birthday, said, “As the awards jury we have sought to reward not only excellence in design but also to recognise architecture that complements the surrounding city.  The New London Awards are about buildings that sit comfortably with their neighbours and adjacent spaces and the strength of the winners is remarkable.  It goes to show that London is attracting the very best in the world in terms of design and built form despite the economic downturn, and is a positive sign of what is to come.”

The 2012 Velodrome and Barking Central Regeneration shared the top ‘Overall Winner’ Award, both commended for their outstanding contribution to London.  Sir David Higgins, Network Rail Chief Executive, was named ‘New Londoner of the Year’ in recognition of his leadership whilst Chief Executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority.

An exhibition of all 316 entries, which together represent £11bn of development in the capital, will open in the NLA galleries in September and run for 12 months.  All finalists are also profiled in the New London 2011/12 catalogue.

New London Architecture was founded in 2005 as the centre for London’s built environment – an independent information resource and a forum for discussion and debate for professionals, public and politicians.  Since that time, it has successfully established itself as a major focus for discussion about architecture, planning, development and construction in the capital with a year-round programme of events, publications and exhibitions, and a core mission – bringing people and ideas together to shape a better city.  www.newlondonarchitecture.org