Luton's St George's Square wins a gold award for town centre regeneration

St George’s Square in Luton, designed by Gillespies, has won the ultimate civic accolade awarded by retail property organisation the British Council of Shopping Centres - a Gold Standard Award for the Town Centre Environment. Regeneration projects in Heben Bridge, and Redruth were also awarded a Gold Standard.

The awards announced on the 6 November recognise work undertaken in towns and cities across the UK to improve the urban environment and encourage retail investment. Some 30 towns and cities entered projects for this year’s awards and an eight-strong jury visited a short-list of six locations earlier this year.

It is the first time in the competition’s 16-year history that three Gold Awards have been made in a single year.

The awards were presented at BCSC’s Annual Conference & Showcase taking place at The Sage, Gateshead. More than 3,000 retailers property and public sector delegates are participating in the event which features major speeches by Sir Bob Geldolf, Sebastian Coe, and Wayne Hemmingway, among others. The national event is the prime opportunity for those involved in creating and managing the retail environment to discuss new thinking and designs.

Comments Town Centre Environment Awards Chairman John Laker, Chairman of Centros Miller, who presented the awards: “These three locations have delivered innovative projects aimed at improving the public and civic realm and, in doing so, have paved the way for future retail investment. The judges were considerably impressed by the outstanding quality of the projects they looked at this year.”

Of the improvements to St. Georges Square in Luton the judges said: “Town officials have worked successfully to eliminate anti-social behaviour that had blighted the area by substantially improving the design of St. George’s Square. The Square now effectively integrates retail and leisure destinations and has triggered investment by The Mall Arndale – Luton, the adjacent retail centre, while the The Galaxy Luton, the leisure entertainment destination, is relocating its main entrance so it will soon face onto St. Georges Square.”

The eight-strong BCSC jury, which includes representatives from the retail, development, consultant, architectural and local authority sectors, was chaired by John Laker, Chairman of developer Centros Miller. The awards, which are sponsored by Centros Miller, were established in 1991.