Author Archives: Kate

A collection of new homes set to bring a touch of ‘Grand Designs’ to a major Northamptonshire development have been given the go-ahead by planners.

The 23 homes are being developed by EDG Property at Priors Hall Park in Corby, a settlement that will see the creation of 5,000 new homes with schools, shops and offices around stunning parkland over the coming decade.

The majority of homes on Priors Hall Park are being developed by national house-builders such as Barratt, David Wilson and Taylor Wimpey while EDG Property is planning to develop a series of bespoke clusters throughout the scheme.

The first 23 houses have been designed by Birmingham-based Bryant Priest Newman Architects – who designed the RIBA Award-winning second phase of The School Yard – and are inspired by the Accordia housing development in Cambridge which won the prestigious Sterling Prize for architecture in 2008.

The three-storey houses will have flat roofs with double aspect terraces overlooking the park, wildlife nature reserve and lake and EDG director Neil Edginton said they will be amongst the highest specified houses on the Priors Hall Park development.

He said: “Priors Hall Park is an incredibly successful development with houses selling before they are even built and we are delighted that local planners have seen the merit in our proposals which we believe will make an exciting contribution to the scheme.

“These houses are located along the edge of the wildlife park and their location and superb specification will allow buyers to truly embrace the ‘park life’ ethos with design features including boot rooms, log burners and racks to hang bikes in all the garages.

“We are very excited to be working with BPN again after the success of our previous collaboration at The School Yard and once again they have produced a scheme that makes a strong design statement and will set a very high benchmark at Priors Hall Park both in terms of the overall aesthetics and the experience of those that eventually live in the properties.”

Construction work is set to begin on site later this year with the first properties set to be released for sale off-plan this summer.  Anyone interested should register with EDG Property, by emailing info@edgproperty.co.uk,  to ensure they receive details for the first sales release.

The ongoing transformation of Birmingham’s premier mixed use development has been boosted after securing a national coffee shop brand as its latest new tenant.

Fort Dunlop is currently undergoing a major multi-million pound overhaul following its acquisition by a fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners in partnership with EDG Property with a view to enhancing the facilities for the 2,500 workers at the scheme and encouraging more retail and leisure visitors.

Costa is set to open a coffee shop later this summer in the newly refurbished atrium and a deal has also been done with a popular food operator that will be announced soon. The lettings follow the remodelling of the scheme’s retail offer and EDG director Neil Edginton said there were likely to be further additions to its portfolio later in the year.

He said: “Completing the atrium works earlier this year at Fort Dunlop has given the transformation project a real momentum and attracting tenants of the quality of Costa is a reflection of its strengthening reputation and is fundamental to our commitment to creating an environment that attracts and retains the best quality office tenants.

“This year alone we have secured half a dozen lettings from both new and existing tenants and there is now very little office space left at Fort Dunlop, but our aspiration is to create a scheme that is not just place to work but is also a thriving destination in its own right where people want to come and spend their free time.”

The development plan includes a range of other initiatives which has seen the schemes Travelodge hotel fully refurbished and the 1,100 space car park already improved with further improvements planned.  The icing on the Fort Dunlop cake will be a new spectacular conference space on the roof, with views back to the city centre and beyond.

The residential phase of The School Yard has won yet another award just days after scooping a major prize for its architecture.

The second phase of the project in Birmingham’s Harborne district scooped Residential Project of the Year at 2016 RICS Awards – West Midlands, the second time the scheme has been honoured by the leading property organisation.

In 2014 the first phase of The School Yard – which saw the transformation of the creation of a new social hub including new restaurants, a coffee shop and food school on the site of an old Victorian school – won the Commercial Project of the Year award at the same event.

The second phase of the project, completed at the end of last year, has seen the construction of 12 high spec apartments and a townhouse which were designed by Jewellery Quarter-based architects Bryant Priest Newman and last month won not just a coveted RIBA Award but saw EDG Property also presented with RIBA’s Client of the Year award.

Both phases of The School Yard have now collectively won six separate awards – phase one also won a Civic Society Renaissance Award while EDG picked up an FBE Client of the Year Award for the scheme – and EDG director Neil Edginton said recognition from the two most important professional organisations in the sector was more than he could have hoped to achieve at the beginning of the project.

He said: “RICS and RIBA represent two quite different strands in our industry and so for this project to be the only one in the region to be recognised by both in the same year really is testament to the fantastic job done by all the team involved in The School Yard from day one.

“Creating fantastic places is what drives EDG property and while we are proud of all of our projects, whether they have won awards or not, The School Yard certainly sets an important benchmark for us in terms of delivering a project in harmony with its surroundings, of the highest design and build quality and making a truly valuable contribution to its location.”

Other winners at the event, which took place at Aston Villa Football Club, included the Grand Central and Birmingham Gateway project which won the Project of the Year award.

All the winning projects at the event will now go forward to the RICS Awards Grand Final 2016 held in London on October 14. The School Yard has also been put forward for a National RIBA Award, the winners of which are announced in June.

Birmingham-based EDG Property is celebrating after scooping two regional RIBA awards after the winners were announced at an event in the city last week.

Considered the ‘Oscars’ of property design with the internationally acclaimed Sterling Prize eventually given to a project that initially wins a regional award, the RIBA is presented to around 50 projects around the UK every year.

At the event last night a RIBA was awarded to the second phase of The School Yard in Harborne – designed by Jewellery Quarter-based Bryant Priest Newman Architects – while EDG Property was also awarded the prestigious Client of the Year award for the West Midlands region.

The School Yard – which was described by RIBA as “bold and well-detailed” – was one of just four projects that received the RIBA in the region this year from a shortlist that had included the redesigned New Street Station and the Assay Office although neither received an award.

EDG director Neil Edginton said: “Our aspiration at the beginning of this process was that we wanted to create an award winning building and we have not been let down by BPN who excited us at the very beginning with their ideas and have now delivered something of which we are all incredibly proud.

“The RIBA is about design but also about delivery and about detail so this is very much an award for the whole team including the construction team and the craftsmen who worked with the wood and the zinc to ensure that the final product was true to BNP’s original vision.

“The Client of the Year award is very much the icing on the cake for EDG and means a huge amount as it vindicates our view that developers have a role and indeed a responsibility to enable architects to do what they are good at and that is designing great buildings while working hard to ensure that a scheme works financially.”

The second phase of The School Yard saw the construction of 12 apartments and a townhouse in two blocks linked by an open staircase and clad in anthracite zinc and Siberian larch. The first phase of the scheme, which won RICS and Birmingham Civic Society awards, saw the creation of a vibrant social hub with new restaurants, coffee shop and food school on the site of an old Victoria school.

Jury chair Jonathan Hines, said: “Choosing the winners was really tough. The shortlisted schemes were so diverse but I think we’ve been able to select four well-crafted and skilfully executed buildings.”

Regional winners will be put forward for the RIBA National Awards, with the recipients announced in June. Those collecting national awards will then be considered for the 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize.

 

LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, has appointed award-winning developer, EDG Property, to start work on transforming a collection of vacant offices into luxury apartments in the heart of Birmingham city centre.

EDG Property, whose award winning portfolio includes The School Yard in Harborne, will convert the former offices on New Street into 19 high specification one and two bedroomed apartments on behalf of Lasalle Investment Management.

Edd Fitch, National Director, LaSalle Investment Management said: “The office to residential conversion of New Street Chambers demonstrates our ability to add value to assets in core locations around the country. We have appointed EDG Property on this project because of its extensive expertise in this area of the market and its ability to create award winning residential apartments.”

Located just yards away from New Street Station and Victoria Square and above ground floor units that include a coffee shop and Office Angels, ‘New Street Chambers’ will offer some of the city’s best located apartments according to EDG director Neil Edginton.

He said: “As the main artery running through the heart of Birmingham, New Street is the city’s most important thoroughfare, so development opportunities like this are incredibly rare.

“New Street has evolved over the years but significant elements of its historic fabric still remain and New Street Chambers offers a unique chance to breathe new life into buildings that date back to a time when Birmingham was emerging as a Victorian powerhouse.

“The city is currently experiencing another golden period in its history with unprecedented investment currently transforming the city centre and this is driving an incredibly buoyant city centre apartment market.

“As well as having a fantastic address, these elegant apartments will be no more than a stone’s throw from Grand Central and John Lewis, the Town Hall and Colmore Row and it is hard to imagine a spot that better encapsulates the opportunities offered by city living in Birmingham.”

Main contractor AOC Contracts has been appointed to deliver the project while the design is by Warwick-based architect Corstorphine + Wright. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2016.

The start on site of New Street Chambers comes as another EDG project, The School Yard in Harborne, has been shortlisted for a RIBA award, the most prestigious award in the property industry.

The second phase of the scheme, which included a zinc-clad development of luxury apartments, has been nominated alongside other West Midland projects including the recently transformed New Street Station and the former Birmingham Assay Office.

The first phase of The School Yard, which saw the transformation of the Grade II listed clock tower in Harborne into a thriving mixed use scheme with restaurants and a cookery school, won an RICS award as well as a Renaissance Award from the Birmingham Civic Society.