Scottish Property Awards: firm foundations honoured

The second Scottish Property Awards ceremony has come and gone, but the prestige of winning will last a long time for those who collected an award in front of 525 guests at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

The Fountainbridge project won best masterplan, and below, Christ Stewart is given his award by Alasdair Humphery of JLL.

Forth One and Edinburgh’s favourite pantomime villain Grant Stott jointly hosted the event alongside BBC Scotland anchor Catriona Shearer, with comedian Paul Tonkinson providingthe laughs.

A hugely important part of the event was the fundraising for The Ripple Retreat, a luxury residence on Loch Venacher which will be gifted to parents of children with cancer. The project, which has achieved planning permission, is currently in the final stages of fundraising to reach its £1-million target required before construction starts in June.

Chair and founder of the charity, Lynne McNicoll, commented: “We are over the moon to have the support of the Scottish Property Awards and we pass our heartfelt congratulations to all the finalists and winners 
together with our deepest thanks to guests and 
companies who gave so generously.”

Picture: Rob McDougall.

Organised by KD Media, the event was sponsored by Ryden, BRE, Bank of Scotland, Santander, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Cities Alliance and Weightmans and partnered with The Scotsman, Scottish Property Federation, G&V (the Royal Mile Hotel), Wolffe, Vision Events and CallPrint.

Now to the awards themselves. It was very clear that this year’s judging panel, a group of experts drawn from across the sector, faced a very difficult task choosing the winners from an impressive list of finalists. If you missed the list in Tuesday’s edition of The Scotsman, you can find them in the panel on the right.

The Scottish Property Awards are supported by the Scottish Property Federation, whose chair, John Hamilton, was also a member of the judging panel. He spoke of the 
inspirational nature of the awards.

He said: “The Scottish Property Awards give us time to reflect on great achievements in the sector and with a strong and impressive list of finalists we can be confident that the industry is in good health.

“Congratulations to all the winners and we hope that this provides a positive incentive to organisations, teams and 
people as they continue in their hard 
work developing property investment in Scotland.”

Two special awards on the night proved particularly popular. The Judges’ Award of Merit went to Clyde Gateway, marking their work around Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, while the Outstanding Individual Contribution went to Chris Stewart of the Chris Stewart Group. The most prestigious award for the Property Company of the Year went to the Drum Property Group of Aberdeen, with Clyde Gateway being highly commended in the category.

One award which is particularly close to The Scotsman’s heart, as the newspaper sponsored it, was the Best Achievement in Masterplanning, won by EDI Group Ltd and 7N Architects for the masterplan for the Fountainbridge project in Edinburgh.

Ewan Anderson, managing partner, 7N Architects, said: “The Fountainbridge project represents a new way of tackling major projects in Edinburgh, from the extensive, upfront, community involvement to the EDI Group approaching the development as a long-term civic investment in placemaking, so I’m delighted that everyone’s work has been recognised by the Scottish Property Award for Best Achievement in Masterplanning.”

Lynn Smith, senior development 
manager of EDI Group, said: “EDI are delighted that the work on the masterplan by the local community, business owners and the council was awarded Best Achievement in Masterplanning and 
now look forward to taking this further with the selection of a funding partner launching next Wednesday.

“This is one of Scotland’s most exciting opportunities for long-term residential investment and we hope to demonstrate that this type of mixed-use placemaking brings lasting, long-term benefits to the community and residents of Edinburgh.”

Development of the Year (Commercial Buildings)

Prime Four, Aberdeen
(Drum Property Group)

Development of the Year (Public buildings)

Johnstone Town Hall, Renfrewshire 
(Renfrewshire Council)

Architectural Excellence Award (Public Buildings)

Maggie’s Centre, Airdrie, Lanarkshire 
(Reiach and Hall Architects)

Highly Commended
Bannockburn Visitors Centre 
(Reiach and Hall Architects)

Architectural Excellence (Commercial Buildings)

Albus, Eastgate, Bridgeton
(JM Architects)

City Regeneration Project
of the Year

Duke Street and High Street, Glasgow
(GHA, Anderson Bell Christie and Cruden Building and Renewals)

Highly Commended 
Anderston Regeneration, Glasgow (CCG) and Laurieston Living, Glasgow (Urban Union)

Town Centre Regeneration Project of the Year

Bridgegate Public Realm, Irvine, North Ayrshire
(Austin-Smith Lord)

Community Partnership
of the Year

Hillhead Community Centre, Kirkintilloch
(Hub West Scotland)

Best Achievement in 
Masterplanning

Fountainbridge Masterplan, Edinburgh – EDI Group
(7n Architects)

Property Agency Team 
of the Year

Ryden

Property Funding Team 
of the Year

RBS Real Estate Finance Scotland

Highly Commended 
Amber Infrastructure &
The SPRUCE Fund

Deal of the Year

BAM Properties,
 for the sale of
101 Queen Street Glasgow

Judges’ Award of Merit

Clyde Gateway

Outstanding Individual Contribution

Chris Stewart

Property Company
of the Year

Drum Property Group, Aberdeen

Highly Commended
Clyde Gateway, Glasgow