August 20, 2007—Five outstanding developments were recently selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) third annual Awards for Excellence: Asia Pacific competition, a recognition program for the land use industry. Out of a field of 11 finalists, five projects in three countries were selected as winners: one from Australia, two from China and two from Japan.
ULI says its Awards for Excellence program, established in 1979, recognizes the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design. The criteria for the awards include leadership, the resourceful use of land, design, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, and financial viability/success. Each winner contributes to a live-work-play environment and is designed to complement and enhance the greater community.
Throughout the program’s history, all types of projects have been recognized for their excellence, including office, residential, recreational, urban/mixed-use, industrial/office park, commercial/retail, new community, rehabilitation, and public projects and programs.
The 2007 Awards for Excellence winners (developers in parentheses) are:
- The Ecovillage at Currumbin (Landmatters Currumbin Valley Pty Ltd) Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. The 110-hectare sustainable development and showcase for best practices preserves 80 percent of its open space for its 144 households and targets self-reliance in water, energy, and food supplies.
- Hong Kong Wetland Park (Architectural Services Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government) Hong Kong. This 61-hectare park is a demonstration site for wetland reclamation and environmental sustainability. The Wetland Park incorporated indigenous plants and building materials and the recycling of fabricated products to elevate it from a passive infrastructure and conservation project to an active tourism, education, and recreation site for Hong Kong.
- The Landmark Scheme (Hongkong Land) Hong Kong. The Landmark Scheme propels to the lead an already popular retail center in central Hong Kong. Now, one hectare of valuable land gathers on one block luxury retail with offices and a 113-room boutique hotel.
- Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower (Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd) Tokyo. Mitsui Tower is a 39-story office tower atop a podium that includes a luxury hotel, restaurants, and a museum that displays the cultural collection of the Mitsui family. The project was allowed to exceed its as-of-right FAR by transferring the unused FAR of the adjacent landmark Mitsui Honkan building.
- Roppongi Hills (Mori Building Co., Ltd), Tokyo. The largest private sector redevelopment ever undertaken in Japan, Roppongi Hills has reportedly established benchmarks for green space, diversity of land uses, and seismic infrastructure. Even before its completion in 2003, the 12-hectare project catalyzed new investment in the Roppongi neighborhood with 79 hectares of floor area in 13 buildings.
For more information about the awards, or for a list of the 2007 winners for the Europe Competition, inaugural European Student Urban Design Competition, and the Americas Competition, visit the ULI Awards Web page.
