EDG Property project nominated for property’s most prestigious award

The second phase of The School Yard in Harborne has been shortlisted for a RIBA – the ‘Oscars’ of the property sector.

Designed by Jewellery Quarter-based BPN Architects, the project was the second phase of a mixed use scheme that had already won a string of awards for sensitively breathing new life into the long vacant Grade II Listed Clock Tower building in the heart of the popular Birmingham suburb.

The eight projects shortlisted for regional gongs also include the Assay Office in Birmingham and £600m transformation of New Street Station.

Jonathan Hines, chairman of the judging panel, said: “The jury was impressed by the overall standard of quality of the buildings submitted this year. The range of buildings, from residential projects to a major infrastructure scheme, was quite striking and made our job a challenging one. Congratulations to all who have been shortlisted and we look forward to announcing the winners in April.”

The regional winners will be announced on 28 April who be put forward for the RIBA National Awards, with those winners announced in June. Those collecting national awards will then be considered for the 2017 RIBA Stirling Prize, the world’s most prestigious prize for building design.

EDG director Neil Edginton said that just be shortlisted is a fantastic accolade for The School Yard and a great tribute to everyone involved in delivering the project.

He said: “When you look at the quality and scale of the other projects that have been shortlisted, it is hard to express quite how proud I am of everyone who worked so hard to turn our vision for this much loved but long neglected site into a reality.

“Our ethos is very much about pushing the boundaries and challenging conventional thinking and the design created by BPN and executed by our construction team has created an exciting new addition to the cityscape, which not only looks fantastic but has been a huge success, having all sold off plan.”

The second phase of The School Yard that has been nominated for the RIBA award 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 Victorian school.