The Berkeley Group scoop 12 awards at the prestigious What House? Awards 2011
The Berkeley Group, Britain´s leading urban regenerator and well respected housebuilder based in Cobham, Surrey has taken home 12 awards at this year’s prestigious What House? Awards.
Unveiled last week at the 30th annual awards ceremony The Berkeley Group was presented with a selection of awards spanning a number of categories with Rupert Bates editorial director of whathouse.co.uk commenting,
“The Berkeley Group is one of the UK’s best new home developers. Having earned themselves a first-class reputation for building top quality new homes across London and the Home Counties constructing lavish houses to top quality apartments, they aspire to cater to all buyer needs”.
Established in 1976, The Berkeley Group has transformed itself from a traditional housebuilder, into a pioneering urban regeneration business with new home developments delivered through its divisions which include Berkeley Homes, St George, St James Homes and St Edward Homes.
The Berkeley Group and its brands scooped 12 awards for their landmark developments, with St James Homes winning Gold for Best House. Queens Acre, set in the grounds of a historic building just outside Beaconsfield, is a small development of 32 homes arranged around the Victorian walled garden of the old house. Described as “an outstanding house – well designed and beautifully executed”, this development is said to perfectly embody the modern family lifestyle whilst maintaining its traditional roots.
In the Best Landscape Design category The Berkeley Group Brand, St James won gold for The Hamptons in Worcester Park while St Edward Homes took bronze for Stanmore Place, London. Comprised of 60 acres, with four acres of lakes to provide a habitat for wildlife, The Hamptons landscape architects created “open spaces and squares linked by bold, structural, tree planting that flows through the scheme like ribbons”.
The dedication to sustainable urban regeneration by The Berkeley Group saw them take silver for Sustainable Developer of the Year thanks to “92 percent of their homes being built on Brownfield Land and their commitment to the Lifetimes homes principle in its design” as explained by the judges.
Other silver accolades were presented to Berkeley for Best Large Housebuilder and Best Development which both highlighted The Royal Arsenal Riverside in Woolwich as an example of “best practice in the regeneration of listed buildings” as well as receiving an award for Best Exterior Design for Park Crescent at Kingsbrook Park, a charming Georgian-style crescent in a historic cathedral city that has been “designed in sympathy with its Georgian predecessors” but with the “added benefit of modern technology, furnishing and finishing”.
In addition, St James took the Best Interior Design silver prize for Queens Acre. Also voted Best House, judges were impressed by the décor executed by Alexander James Interior Design which was described as “elegant and restrained throughout, with especially good use of textured wallpapers, tactile fabrics and quality materials”. This category also saw Berkeley Homes win bronze for The Target Living Collection, a collection of eight three-bedroom mews houses occupying the West Range of The Armouries at the Royal Arsenal Riverside development in London, praised for its clever space planning making the homes appear “significantly larger” given each property is only just over 1000 square feet.
Meanwhile, Berkeley Homes also received a bronze award for Best Starter Home which acknowledged Victory Pier on the Medway in Gillingham, an attractive waterfront development, as a “perfect example of a scheme guaranteed to appeal to the first-time buyer market”.
The Best Renovation bronze accolade went the Berkeley Homes for All Saints, Eastbourne, East Sussex, a Grade II listed, Victorian Gothic hospital which has been successfully converted from “institutional to residential use while maintaining the cohesive feel and distinctive atmosphere of the buildings” while the Best Brownfield Development bronze award was picked up by Berkeley Homes for transforming Caspian Wharf in London, a former polluted, industrial site into 543 high-specification units which represents a “model of inner-city regeneration”.
To find out more about The Berkeley Group awards or for the full list of What House? Awards winners and the winning developments visit http://www.whathouse.co.uk/what-house-awards/results-2011 or download the new What House? App for iPhone and shortly iPad.
To register for details of the 2012 What House? Awards please contact Derek Smith. ds@globespanmedia.com. Tel: 020-7324-2800
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Notes to Editors
Rupert Bates, Editorial Director of What House? would like to thank the following What House? Awards 2011 sponsors:
Whathouse.co.uk
Roca
Spicerhaart land & new homes
Nolte Kitchens
Hometrack
Show House magazine
Electrolux
Premier Guarantee
Johnson Tiles
Laufen
ScottishPower
KLAS International