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Urban Splash shortlisted for international architecture award

Regeneration firm Urban Splash has been shortlisted for a globally prestigious award, along with its architects Hawkins Brown and Studio Egret West.

The Manchester-based firm is one of the finalists for architecture prize, the Sterling Award, after its work on the Park Hill scheme in Sheffield.

This project is being considered for the award, which is presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Urban Splash creative director and co founder Jonathan Falkingham MBE said: “We are delighted that Park Hill is on the Stirling shortlist.

“The regeneration of this troubled building has demonstrated that with the right partners, post war modernism can be successfully reinvented for contemporary audiences, adding significantly to the tense debate that surrounds our post war heritage”

The Park Hill project was started in 2008, and saw Urban Splash take on the development of a Grade II listed building, which is also Europe’s largest listed structure.

The building was constructed in the 1960s as a post-world war “social utopia” that was intended to replace slums, however by the 1990s many of the 900 homes had been deserted.

Urban Splash hoped to reverse the fate of the structure after they succeeded in transforming similar schemes in previous years.

Mr Falkingham continued: “Combine the challenges around the physical state of Park Hill and the perception of it and its clear to see that it has been a challenge to reintroduce this building as a contemporary place to live.

“In partnering with Hawkins Brown and Studio Egret, plus English Heritage we have helped breathe new life into the building. Our architects worked with the existing template and enhanced it through the use of modern materials and designs.

“The people now living and working there are testament enough to the work that’s been done, but the Stirling Prize announcement compounds them. It reinforces our belief that great design can help resurrect unloved spaces and create new communities.”

Urban Splash has secured a string of accolades for its work in architecture, regeneration and design, with 339 awards to its name to date.

Urban Splash Chairman Tom Bloxham MBE concluded: “We are thrilled with this news. Park Hill’s place on this shortlist shows that great architecture doesn’t have to be the preserve of the rich and that schemes like it have their place amongst design’s elite.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .