Pictured above: Phoenix Square

Blueprint brought home the top prize of Commercial Developer of the Year on the back of its two Nottingham developments - Nottingham Science Park and Green Street in the Meadows - and Leicester's Phoenix Square at the East Midlands Property Awards [30th September 2010].

The multi-award winning, sustainable developer scooped yet more accolades for its mixed use, cultural collaboration project, Phoenix Square, also taking the title of Regeneration Project of the Year. Blueprint and architects of both Phoenix Square and Green Street, Marsh Grochowski, also won a "Highly Commended" award on the same night at the RIBA awards, celebrating architectural excellence for Phoenix Square's innovative design and integrated use of space. 

Judges recognised the innovative public-private partnership approach taken in developing the unique cultural building which combines contemporary living space, with independent arts cinema, an immersive gallery, screen lounge café bar, state of the art workspaces and office studios to house Leicester's growing number of creative businesses.

Nick Ebbs of Blueprint, said: "This is an excellent achievement for Blueprint and Phoenix Square. It is testament to Blueprint's vision and sustainable investment ethos - delivering innovative regeneration schemes that bring about real economic benefits and act as a catalyst to develop thriving communities."

Margaret Allen, East Midlands Director at the Homes and Communities Agency echoed the regeneration message, saying: "It is fantastic to see such flagship projects like Phoenix Square being widely praised. The scheme is a true regeneration project, in the sense that it addresses a range of community needs, including housing, business accommodation and digital facilities, and it is contributing to this area of the city becoming a growing cultural quarter."

In an emotive speech, RIBA Chair Julian Owen, praised the team behind Phoenix Square and urged Leicester to be proud of the fantastic project.  He noted that the RIBA judging panel had been impressed with how hard partnership had worked to make the project happen and  that their love for the project and a desire to make it work stood out against some stiff competition.

Since opening in November 2009, Phoenix Square proved a hit with home owners, tenants and businesses alike, being 50% occupied within the first three months. 

Phoenix Square is a unique cultural building which combines contemporary living space, with independent arts cinema, an immersive gallery, screen lounge café bar, state of the art workspaces and office studios to house Leicester's growing number of creative businesses. It is the creation of a partnership project between Blueprint (jointly owned by the Homes and Communities Agency, East Midlands Development Agency and Igloo, an Aviva managed fund), Phoenix Arts, Leicester City Council in collaboration with De Montfort University and is an example of 21st century sustainable building design, coupled with leading-edge architectural quality.