The winners of the prestigious Medway Design and Regeneration Awards were revealed at a ceremony on Thursday 22nd September.
Developers, architects and representatives from across the construction industry attended Rochester Corn Exchange where the winners of the Medway Design and Regeneration Awards were unveiled.
Medway is the largest conurbation in the south-east, outside of London, with a growing population of 280,000 residents and a local economy, which has almost doubled in the last 10 years to £5.9bn.
With a government housing target to build more than 28,000 new homes by 2040, there are a number of major regeneration projects underway across Medway including a £170m road, rail and environmental infrastructure project on the Hoo Peninsula. Medway Council’s own housing company, Medway Development Company, is furthering the council’s work to transform its city centre, Chatham, with high quality housing developments at Garrison Point and Waterfront which will provide residents with a choice of new homes, including affordable.
The development at Rochester Riverside is also transforming a 50-acre brownfield site into a riverside destination with around 1,400 high-quality homes, more than 10 acres of open space including parks, play areas and landscaping as well as a school and commercial units.
More than 35 entries were submitted for this year’s awards and an independent panel of judges had the difficult task of selecting the winners from a highly competitive shortlist.
The Medway Design and Regeneration Awards celebrate Medway’s most innovative and exciting building projects, which have played an important part in the area’s regeneration in the last five years.
Managing Editor of Architects’ Journal Will Hurst was compere for the ceremony and Sadie Morgan OBE, Co-founding Director at award winning architecture practice dRMM, was the guest speaker.
The winners of the 2022 Medway Design and Regeneration Awards are:
- Residential Minor — The Black House in Rainham
- Martin Mckay Highly Commended — Theatre Royal in Chatham
- Residential Major — Robin Place, White Road, Chatham
- Residential Super Major — Beaulieu Park (Bakersfield) in Rainham
- Martin Mckay Highly Commended — Woodlands in Cliffe Woods
- Public Buildings, including Education — Abbey Court School in Strood
- Civils, infrastructure and Public Realm — St Nicholas Church in Stood — architectural lighting
- Commercial/Retail or industrial — Ordnance Yard, Lower Upnor
- Martin Mckay Highly Commended — The Vines Hotel in Rochester
- Conservation and Heritage — The Black House in Rainham
- Martin Mckay Highly Commended The Vines Hotel in Rochester and Unit 1 Magazine B The Torpedo Store
Leader of Medway Council, Cllr Alan Jarrett, said: “I would like to congratulate all of the winners of Medway’s Design and Regeneration Awards. The awards were a great success and shone a spotlight on the highly impressive catalogue of innovative building projects across Medway. It also highlighted some of the fantastic developments which have provided modern housing, as well as job opportunities for residents.”
During the awards, Sadie Morgan congratulated Medway for its strong sense of collaboration and its can do attitude. Sadie said: “It is good leadership that is needed to create a vision for our local regions, that navigates a route to local economic growth and building prosperous communities that work for everyone. In many areas of public services and delivering economic growth, it is councils that are now in the driving seat. They are in a unique position to lead the future shape of England’s towns and cities, in a way that they haven’t been able to do so before. Councils have a vital enabling role to play, ensuring infrastructure is planned and delivered in the most effective way. Not simply to just accommodate a growing population, but to do so in a way that allows people and places to prosper by being resilient, safe, sustainable, economically viable and underpinned by effective social and economic infrastructure.”
Sadie also stressed that design today must focus on social and wellbeing measures within new developments at all scales, adding: “As we deliver projects, big or small, it will be design that defines the legacy they leave behind.”
Will Hurst congratulated the outstanding design in Medway. Will said: “It was a pleasure to present the second ever Medway Design and Regeneration Awards! The awards are organised by the local authority, which has made huge efforts over the years to raise the quality of the built environment and the standard of new development. From a personal point of view, as a campaigner for reuse of existing buildings, it’s wonderful to see so many refurbishment and retrofit projects. Congratulations again to the winners, highly commended and indeed all of those shortlisted on your achievement.”
The Medway Design and Regeneration Awards are sponsored by Bailey Partnership Architects, Bellway Homes Ltd, DHA Planning, Esquire Developments, Redrow Homes, Rochester Riverside, Barton Willmore — Now Stantec — and the Copper Rivet Distillery.
To find out more about the Design and Regeneration Awards, and find out more about the winners, visit: medway.gov.uk/designawards2022
Header image: Abbey Court School won the Public Buildings (including education) category.
