00:00Hello, I'm Ian Griffin, Deputy Editor of Midlands Business Insider, and I'm here at Insiders
00:14West Midlands Property Awards, where in a few minutes, 570 people will be here to watch
00:20the presentation of 14 awards this evening.
00:23One of those awards is a new one, it's the Future Ambition Award, where the audience
00:28will get to vote for the winner, and they'll get to choose from one of six projects which
00:33are yet to be completed.
00:35Those projects will have a huge impact on their local communities, their local economies.
00:41They'll have achieved some significant progress this year, but as I say, haven't yet been
00:45completed.
00:46It'll be a real show of support for those projects.
00:51It's going to be a great night, let's hear what some of the judges and some of the winners
00:55had to say about this evening.
00:57Hi, Joe Salmon, Make Asset Management.
01:02This was the first year I'd been invited to be a judge on the Insider West Midlands Property
01:06Awards.
01:07Quite an experience, the diversity of the entries for all of the categories was quite
01:13impressive.
01:14There was a lot of content to go through, very exciting, very interesting propositions
01:22that are going on in the West Midlands, and it was really great to see all of that and
01:27get the full detail first-hand.
01:30A very robust process with the other judges, a lot of debate, a lot of discussion, few
01:36arguments, and none of the awards were given or awarded until we were all unanimous on
01:45that decision.
01:46It was a very robust process, really enjoyable, and all of the entries, really impressed by
01:52the quality of those, the standard, it was incredible.
01:58It was a really inclusive and exciting thing to be involved with, and all of those entries
02:07credit to you, you've really done a good job and you're doing an amazing job in the West
02:11Midlands.
02:12So, thanks all for those who've entered, and good luck to those who've won.
02:18Hello, I'm Mark Martin.
02:20I'm a director and owner of One Creative Environments, a multidisciplinary firm based in the Midlands.
02:27I was always impressed with the Insider Awards, and very privileged when I was asked to be
02:33a judge, and I've been a judge now for two years, and it is awe-inspiring when you start
02:39to see the level and quality of the work and the content of what people are doing in this
02:47brilliant region in the Midlands, in the West Midlands.
02:50So when I started, I was a little bit naive, I thought it'd be quite an easy thing being
02:53a judge.
02:55Last year was a baptism of fire, I thought, my word, there's a lot of work here, a lot
02:59of hours go in by the judges, a very professional response.
03:03We take into account everything that we see, we read every word, and I thought that was
03:09tough last year.
03:10This year I went into it prepared, but I wasn't prepared.
03:14This year was even better.
03:15There were more submissions, there were higher quality submissions, there was more content,
03:22and it just says to me, the West Midlands is thriving at the moment.
03:25The fact that year on year, the Insider Awards get better and better, and the judging, honestly,
03:31we are having to spend weeks before we deliberate and come down to a decision on the winners.
03:37It just is a reflection of the vibrancy of the industry and the economy in this region.
03:44So being a judge is not easy, and anyone who wants to be a judge, well, just prepare
03:51yourself.
03:52I prepared myself this year, I was a bit naive last year, and this year was even tougher.
03:58And that's a celebration and a recommendation for this region.
04:04I've just looked out there tonight, and there are over 600 people enjoying tonight.
04:09They're all talking, they're all networking, they're thriving.
04:12These are not quiet people, these are successful people enjoying being in the West Midlands.
04:16So my message is, well done to all the people who have entered.
04:20You're all good, whether you win or lose.
04:23The judges have taken you seriously.
04:25When there's a conflict of interest, we have walked away and gone into another room or
04:30not been involved in the discussion.
04:32And it just says, well done, I can't say any more.
04:37So I am Anna Parker, Director of Intervention Architecture, based in Birmingham.
04:44And tonight we are really, really proud to have won Architects Practice of the Year,
04:50and also to have been part of the Future Ambition Award winning entry.
04:55And for that, you know, we have worked so hard over the last five years since we last
05:01won Architects Practice of the Year.
05:04We've been working on Smithfield, Birmingham, with Lendlease, a kind of joint venture project
05:10with Birmingham City Council, which is going to be so intrinsically important to the city
05:17in the future, into the development of how we access cultural projects and arts projects
05:24in the city.
05:25And also addressing the housing and kind of home occupation within the city is a really
05:33important project going forward, and how we're going to activate such a really central part
05:42of connecting through from Digbeth up to the Bullring, and really activating a lot of that
05:51ground floor area to create a market space, a kind of festival square, and also lots of
06:00commercial retail areas and restaurants to be really a 24-hour city for our region, which
06:07is going to be so exciting.
06:10Hi, Ralph Minot, Masterplan Development Director of Carlefield Estates.
06:16A handful of people have said, how did you know?
06:19What did you think about it?
06:20And it was a total shock.
06:2316 years, 17 years working for one of the most special organisations in the city.
06:30It's a great reward.
06:33We have 1,600 acres, 1,600 acres which were acquired 300 years ago.
06:40It probably had 100 years of very little, just farmland.
06:44And then you had 150 years of the creation of some of the best residences in the city.
06:52Probably the most defining period, though, was the 1950s, where a new masterplan was
06:59created by the beloved architect of Birmingham, John Maiden, who created a masterplan for
07:04the family for commercialisation of large parts of the residential central district.
07:11Now that area, which is the office buildings of the 1960s and 70s, saw 3 million square
07:19feet of offices built in the heart of Edgbaston.
07:22And it became almost like a satellite city centre outside the city centre.
07:28Here we are, 70 years later, already looking at all of that property as the next level
07:36of regeneration.
07:37It's quite interesting that we go through 300 years, things stand still, hold their
07:44place for hundreds of years.
07:47The stuff that we built in the 70s is already obsolete.
07:50And we've got to realise the future for Calthorpe, for the benefit of Birmingham,
07:56using those properties.
07:58So quite a challenge, really.
08:00The Five Ways Tower is special because when it was opened in the 70s, the Five Ways House
08:06was opened by our king, who was then the prince.
08:09A very special building.
08:11It's become a representative of government organisations throughout that period.
08:16But it has actually fell into disrepair over 20 or 30 years.
08:20And it's such a tall building, it's seen everywhere.
08:24And it's seen everywhere as a pretty derelict, unsightly property.
08:29We've actually found a great partner to work with to bring it forward as a new regeneration
08:34site.
08:36But we do need the City Council to support a positive design and approach to it.
08:42And I think it will be a great solution for residential, student and mixed-use in Tewishbaston
08:49and for the city.
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