National Urban Design Awards 2021
We're thrilled to announce our Winners!
Earlier this year we relaunched the National Urban Design Awards with new categories to reflect the different types of work undertaken by practitioners in urban design from policies, urban design frameworks and masterplans through to built schemes, with criteria based on real-world design guidance/standards and statutory duties.
We have been absolutely delighted with the response and would very much like to thank everyone who gave their time and effort in submitting a scheme or project. The entries were diverse and inspiring in their aspirations and achievements. Huge thanks are due to our judges who took on their challenging task with enthusiasm and commitment!
We are also immensely grateful for the continuing support of the Francis Tibbalds Trust who generously provide a £600 prize for the winner of the Student Project Award. A discretionary grant of up to £1,000 will also be available to the winner of the People Friendly Place Award to be used to support the furthering of people friendly work or projects (in agreement with the judges).
And without further ado…
Policy, Strategy + Design Guidance
WINNER
The National Model Design Code
URBED
A guide for local authorities in producing design codes
FINALISTS
Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Sustainability Guidance and Checklist
Harlow and Gilston Garden Town
Detailed guidance with quantified, objective standards for technical design
Nottingham Design Quality Framework
Nottingham City Council
An integrated system for a faster planning process that leads to quality design
The Shenley Neighbourhood Plan
Shenley Parish Council
A model for communities wishing to take greater control over the future of their area
Wood Green and Turnpike Lane Design Manual
Haringey Council
Community developed public realm guidance with a focus on the safe independent mobility of children
Framework + Masterplans Large
WINNER
Nansledan, Newquay | Masterplan
ADAM Architecture
Town-making in the Cornish style with school, shops, business units and homes
FINALISTS
Andover Town Centre | Framework
NEW Masterplanning
A practical way for a market town to make the most of its heritage and river
Birkenhead 2040 | Framework
OPEN (Optimised Environments)
An easy-to-understand path for the complex regeneration and growth of a former industrial town
Framework + Masterplans Midscale
WINNER
Love Wolverton | Masterplan
URBED
Redevelopment of a town centre car park to provide multi-generational housing and shops
FINALISTS
Coal Orchard, Taunton | Masterplan
Lavigne Lonsdale
Redevelopment of a town centre site to create a riverside oasis for visitors and residents
Oakfield, Swindon | Masterplan
Metroplitan Workshop
A step change for the quality of housing, street and urban design in an area of 1960s housing
People Friendly Place
WINNER
Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
Urban Movement
A replicable model for main streets, for all the community featuring best practice in many areas
FINALISTS
City Park West, Chelmsford
Pollard Thomas Edwards
Compact development with high quality public realm in a shire county town
The Park within Elephant Park, London
Gillespies
A fully specified inner-city park designed for many different types of user
Innovation
WINNER
Building Peace in Kosovo
The Block by Block Foundation
A truly bottom-up participatory design process using the computer game Minecraft
FINALISTS
PEARL Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory
University College London
A unique space for exploring the effects of urban design on the human brain
ViewCue
Oxford Brookes University
A visual analysis tool for property, real estate, planning and development
Student Project
WINNER
The Green Loop
He Wang | Cardiff University
FINALISTS
Milton Keynes Placemaking
Peter Livings | Leeds Beckett University
Stitching the Urban Fabric
Aanchal Agrawal + Shinjini Basu | University of Strathclyde
Book Award
WINNER
The Urban Block
Jonathan Tarbatt and Chloe Street Tarbatt | RIBA
FINALISTS
Community-Led Regeneration
Pablo Sendra and Daniel Fitzpatrick | UCL Press
Designing Disorder
Pablo Sendra and Richard Sennett | Verso
Estate Regeneration
Brendan Kilpatrick and Manisha Patel | Routledge
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We're immensely grateful for the experience and insight of our judging panel, all leading independent figures in the built environment and urban design community, qualified in architecture, planning, urban design and landscape architecture:
- Jas Bhalla Jas Bhalla Architects
- Jane Dann Managing Director of Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design
- Roger Evans Studio REAL
- Helen Forman West Yorkshire Combined Authority
- Peter Frankum Director and National Head of Savills Urban Design Studio
- Tim Hagyard Planning Manager for CPRE (Herts) | URBAN DESIGN journal Editorial Board
- Emma Spierin O'Mahony Pike Architects
- Dr Deb Upadhyaya Homes England
Along with our co-chairs:
- Christopher Martin of Urban Movement | UDG Treasurer
- Alan Thompson of AP Thompson Built Environment Consultancy
Also, a huge thanks to Dr Patricia Aelbrecht of Cardiff University, Dr Philip Black of the University of Manchester, and Dr Husam AlWaer of the University of Dundee for convening and longlisting the Student Project Award.
To ensure fairness in the selection of finalists, submissions were anonymised as much as possible and all entries were reviewed against a robust set of criteria, including duties set down in statute and common law, and government best practice guidance.
Read more about the judges and further details on judging criteria.
With many thanks to our Book Award judging panel:
- Dick Cole (Chair) Book editor URBAN DESIGN journal
- Georgia Butina-Watson Professor of Urban Design, Oxford Brookes University
- Geoff Noble Heritage + Urban Design Consultant | Editorial board URBAN DESIGN journal
- Judith Ryser Editorial board URBAN DESIGN journal
- Katja Stille UDG Chair | Director Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design
This year’s short list was selected from the twenty plus books reviewed in the URBAN DESIGN journal during 2020 and 2021. The selected books were diverse, ranging from theory to practice, community activism to urban form, demonstrating the broadness of the topic and leading to an engaging debate for the judging panel.
