The new Craigmillar Town Centre has won the Housing Regeneration Project of the Year award at the Scottish Home Awards.
The prestigious accolade was shared with the council’s partners CCG(Scotland), its housebuilding contractor and architects Anderson Bell Christie.
There are 194 energy efficient homes in the town centre for social and mid-market rent, and the judges recognised the importance of the project in attracting retail investment and the new school which is being built alongside.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s Housing Convener, Councillor Kate Campbell, said: “Through our Council house building programme we’re investing in communities across our city, being led by local people as to what they want, and how they want to see any regeneration in their local area happen.
“As a Council we’ve made our priorities ending poverty, promoting wellbeing and making our city greener and more sustainable for future generations. In Craigmillar town centre the new homes meet all three aims.
“We’ve built energy efficient, affordable homes that are easy to heat, there’s good quality outdoor space, the whole area is well maintained and it’s easy, and a pleasure, to travel through. There are areas for children to play and we’re investing more in public space through the Scottish Government’s Place Based Fund to create a space for community and public events. We’ve also got a fantastic new school building well under way.
“The communities in Craigmillar and Niddrie deserve to have some of the best quality new homes and amenities, and this win and finalist recognition proves that we do. It is also testament to the hard work of the Council’s teams so I’d like to thank everyone for their dedication to making sure we’re not just building much needed affordable homes, we’re building some of the best new homes and developments in the city.”
Councillor Mandy Watt, Housing Vice Convener, said: “The Scottish Home Awards is a great opportunity to see all the innovative and ground-breaking work going on across the public and private housing sector across Scotland. For Edinburgh’s Craigmillar Town Centre to be recognised in the Housing Regeneration Project of the Year category is fantastic and really demonstrates how we’re leading the way by creating community hubs, working within our new 20 minute neighbourhood principle, helping to deliver more sustainable places and meet our residents’ needs better locally.”
The council was also a finalist in two other categories – – in the ‘Social Housing Developer of the Year’ category which recognises achievements in the delivery of new-build affordable homes in Scotland and in the ‘Affordable Housing Development of the Year (Social Rent)’ category for Craigmillar Town Centre.
The Meadowbank Masterplan is shortlisted in the Masterplan category at the Architectural Journal Architecture Awards. This is the first low car development which Cllr Kate Campbell spoke to us about in her interview here. There are 600 energy efficient new homes in the project which has low carbon features.
The council’s Housing and Regeneration Team is also shortlisted in the Council of the Year category at the UK Housing Awards 2021. The announcements about these awards are expected in November.
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