Capital buildson success atthe propertyOscars

ACCLAIMED Capital buildings have swept the board at a prestigious industry awards ceremony.

The best in Scottish property was celebrated at the awards. Pic: contributed

Winners at the fourth annual Scottish Property Awards included the new James Gillespie’s Campus in Marchmont and the Old Town’s New Waverley.

The man behind the St James Centre revamp – TH Real Estate’s Martin Perry – carried off an individual gong at the glitzy Corn Exchange do.

“Congratulations to all our finalists and winners,” said panel chair Fiona Morton.

“Judging the competition is hard work but immensely rewarding for everyone involved as we celebrate all the achievements.

“I hope all the winners make the most of their win.”

Judges chose from a record number of entries in the competition, while 710 guests gathered to celebrate with the finalists.

Among the winners was Standard Life Investment and Peveril Securities’ development on the south side of St Andrew Square – scooping Commercial Development of the Year.

The James Gillespie’s School Campus, meanwhile, claimed two awards for Public Development of the Year and Architectural Excellence for a Public Building.

And Artisan Real Estates’ New Waverley project collected the award for City Regeneration of the Year.

The £150 million transformation of part of the Old Town features a football pitch-sized public square, 146-apartment Aparthotels Adagio and 19 Victorian arches turned into shops.

Completing a successful night for the city was Craigmillar’s Castlebrae Business Park awarded Community Development of the Year.

Mr Perry was credited for bringing one of the largest multi-use city regenerations in Europe through planning to construction – seen as a “major milestone” for the Capital.

Work began on the £1bn project to revamp the St James shopping centre in October after a 10-year wait prolonged by recession, the Scottish independence referendum and Brexit.

Demolition of the existing 1970s block has begun and is expected to take 18 months before building work begins.

Scheduled to reopen in 2020, the new centre will create up to 3000 permanent jobs with 85 new shops, 20 restaurants, 150 flats and a “deluxe” multiscreen cinema.

Three new public squares will be created, as will 1600 car parking spaces while a five-star “ribbon” hotel will be the centrepiece.

The awards, operated by KDMedia, also raised £15,000 for the charity ‘It’s Good 2 Give’ currently building The Ripple Retreat, for families with children who have cancer.

“It is fantastic to see such a number and quality of commercial and public property projects and teams as finalists for this year’s awards,” said Scottish Property Federation chair Paul Curran.

“We’re delighted to support the awards again this year and it is great to see such a large turnout from the industry.

“I congratulate all finalists on their success this past year and in particular this evening’s winners who can be justifiably proud of their achievements and industry recognition.”

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