Leicester City Council's £14.6 million reworking of the former Pilot House building has won a CoStar Impact award for its role in the wider regeneration of the city centre, taking home Commercial Development of the Year for the East Midlands.
Once an under-used cluster of heritage buildings, the more than 30,000-square-foot Canopy workspace delivers a workspace for the creative industries, supporting start-ups and established design practices. It opened in March.
The scheme, recognised by an independent panel of real estate expert professionals, has already attracted tenants including rg+p, the architect on the project, which has committed to relocating its Leicester studio into the building.
Canopy was also designed with a public-facing creative hub, housing a cafe, exhibition space, public courtyard and flexible collaboration zones. Those behind the project argue this will create opportunities for new partnerships and cross-sector growth.
About the project: Canopy's backers say it has set new development standards for heritage-led adaptive reuse in the city, with the building making use of exposed brickwork, original beams and parquet flooring alongside a modern glazed roof and new entrance.
The scheme, however, was not without its challenges, such as redeveloping several ageing, interconnected heritage buildings that required careful structural coordination, conservation expertise and modern systems integration.
The King Street redevelopment of the site into a city centre creative campus, part-funded by the government, required close collaboration between the council, architects and contractors, Henry Brothers.
Canopy is expected to support around 250 creative-sector jobs, strengthening employment, increasing footfall and stimulating additional investment in the surrounding city-centre districts, helping it to win the award.
What the judges said: Adam McPartland, managing director, Glancy Nicholls, said: "Canopy delivers on the criteria of impact, growth and diversification in a sustainable way; the reuse and retrofit of heritage industrial buildings sets a great example for how we revitalise our city centres.
"Supporting the potential number of creative industries offers expansive potential as an economic catalyst in Leicester and beyond. The project demonstrates innovation with its approach to regeneration, providing a space the market requires whilst retaining the built identity of the area and it's story.
"Working with existing buildings and navigating stakeholders in planning and conservation always brings challenge and the scheme looks to have successfully balanced all stakeholders requirements whilst delivering a positive development."
They made it happen: Rob Woolston, architectural director, rg+p; Ian Taylor, managing director, construction, Henry Brothers and Andrew Smith, director of planning, Leicester City Council.