Winner - North View at North Manchester General Hospital, submitted by WSP UK Ltd

North View is a new 150‑bed, purpose‑built adult mental health inpatient hospital at North Manchester General Hospital. The project delivers single en‑suite bedrooms across nine specialist wards, a PICU, an assessment suite and a range of therapeutic internal and external spaces designed to enhance wellbeing and recovery. WSP led the planning strategy, ensuring clinically driven design requirements were fully understood by the local planning authority and aligning the project with the wider NMGH masterplan. Through early, proactive engagement and a programme‑focused approach, WSP secured a timely, robust consent enabling this exemplary mental health hospital to be delivered.

 

Judges Awards 

Excellence in Planning for a Successful Economy 

Winner - The Edge, Cumbria's Coastal Activities Centre, submitted by Cumberland Council

Perched on the edge of Whitehaven’s historic harbour, The Edge is a bold new Coastal Activity Centre for adventure, creativity and connection. Designed to welcome everyone The Edge offers modern facilities, flexible spaces and a front-row seat to the Cumbrian coast.  Whether you’re staying overnight, participating in a community group, drying off after a day on the water, hosting a workshop or simply grabbing a coffee with a view, The Edge is here to bring people together and make the most of Whitehaven’s wild and wonderful waterfront in a unique contemporary space.

 

Excellence in Planning for Heritage & Culture

Winner - Sunlight House, Manchester, submitted by Savills and Karrev

The refurbishment of Sunlight House is a masterclass in heritage-led regeneration, reconnecting Manchester’s original skyscraper with Joseph Sunlight’s 1932 vision. Through a detailed planning-led approach, unsympathetic past interventions were reversed to better reveal the building’s Art Deco significance. By balancing conservation with innovative adaptive reuse, the project transformed the Grade II Listed Building into a modern, sustainable workspace. This scheme proves that heritage assets can lead the climate agenda through sensitive retrofitting, securing the long-term cultural and economic viability of a landmark while enhancing the city’s historic urban fabric.

Commended - Science and Industry Museum, Power Hall, submitted by Deloitte LLP

The Power Hall Decarbonisation Project at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, demonstrates conservation-led planning that integrates heritage restoration with ambitious decarbonisation. Using a phased consenting strategy, the team developed a scheme to re-open the gallery, while prioritising conservation, improving accessibility, and installing a water‑source heat network, heat pumps and low‑carbon plant to reduce operational emissions. Sensitive design interventions enhanced legibility and interpretation, turning the building into an educational asset that links industrial history to a net‑zero future. Collaborative interdisciplinary planning helped to delivered significant cultural, social and environmental benefits for both the local communities and the wider city. 

Commended - Mill One, Cotton Works, Wigan, submitted by Paul Butler Associates and The Heaton Group

The Mill 1 project has seen the repair, re-use, and extension of a Grade II Listed former spinning block, along with the creative re-use of surviving parts of its boiler houses and weaving sheds to create a Grade A office development and leisure destination. A combined effort from THG, its consultants and architect, and Wigan Council has resulted in the transformation of this part of the Mill Complex, within the Wigan Pier Quarter Conservation Area, to the benefit of the local community, and Wigan’s economy. Further phases of this project are due to be delivered in 2026. 

 

Excellence in Planning for Wellbeing and Education

Winner - North View at North Manchester General Hospital, submitted by WSP UK Ltd

Also Best Project