Ten real estate developments have been selected as winners of the 2015 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Global Awards for Excellence, widely recognized as one of the land use industry’s most prestigious award programs. This year’s winners—five in North America, three in Europe, and two in Asia—were honored at the 2015 ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco.
The awards competition, now in its 37th year, recognizes real estate projects that achieve a high standard of excellence in design, construction, economics, planning, and management. The program—open to all and not limited to ULI members—is viewed as the centerpiece of the Institute’s efforts to identify and promote best practices in all types of real estate development.
“Each of this year’s finalists and winners demonstrates how innovation and design intersect with development performance,” said jury chair Michael Covarrubias, chairman and chief executive officer of TMG Partners in San Francisco. “The diversity of these projects is a reflection of the land use industry’s interdisciplinary nature, illustrating the variety of ways to stabilize a neighborhood, improve the streetscape, and create meaningful experiences for communities worldwide.”
The winners (developers and designers in parentheses) are as follows:
- 12th Avenue Arts, Seattle, Washington, United States (developer: Capitol Hill Housing; designer: SMR Architects);
- Beaugrenelle, Paris, Île-de-France, France (developers: APSYS and SemPariSeine; designer: Valode & Pistre Architects);
- City Market at O, Washington, D.C., United States (developer: Roadside Development; designers: Shalom Baranes Associates et al.);
- Denver Union Station, Denver, Colorado, United States (developers: Union Station Neighborhood Company [an equal partnership between East West Partners and Continuum Partners], Trammell Crow Company, and Union Station Alliance; designers: AECOM; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; and Hargreaves Associates);
- Devon Energy Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States (developer: Devon World Headquarters LLC; designer: Pickard Chilton);
- Jing An Kerry Centre, Puxi District, Shanghai, China (developer: Kerry Properties; designer: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates);
- King’s Cross Station, London, United Kingdom (developer: Network Rail; designer: McAslan & Partners);
- Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, Taikoo Li Chengdu, Chengdu, China (developers: Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Land; designer: The Oval Partnership Ltd., Elena Galli Giallini Ltd and Spawton Architecture, Make Architects);
- Joseph’s Campus, Oakland, California, United States (developer: BRIDGE Housing Corporation; designer: Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP); and
- Swedbank Headquarters, Sundbyberg, Stockholm, Sweden (developer: Humlegården Fastigheter AB; designer: 3XN).
The Awards for Excellence program is based on the Institute’s guiding principle that the achievement of excellence in land use practice should be recognized and rewarded. ULI’s Global Awards for Excellence recognize the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design. The criteria for the awards include leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnerships, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial viability. Throughout the program’s history, all types of projects have been recognized for their excellence, including office, residential, recreational, urban/mixed-use, industrial/office park, commercial/retail, new community, rehabilitation, and public projects and programs.
In addition to jury chairman Covarrubias, other 2015 awards jury members include the following: jury vice chair M. Leanne Lachman, president, Lachman Associates, New York, New York; Terrall Vern Budge, principal, Loci, Salt Lake City; Sujata S. Govada, managing director, UDP International, Wan Chai, Hong Kong; Jason Hellendrung, principal, Sasaki Associates, Watertown, Massachusetts; Sophie Henley-Price, managing director, STUDIOS, Paris; Lance K. Josal, chief executive officer, Callison RTKL, Dallas; Jeff Kingsbury, managing principal, Greenstreet Ltd., Indianapolis; Jacinta McCann, executive vice president, AECOM, San Francisco; Steve Navarro, executive vice president, CBRE, Greenville, South Carolina; and Trini M. Rodriguez, principal, ParkerRodriguez Inc., Alexandria, Virginia.
