Cargo is the only scheme in Devon and Cornwall, and one of just 10 nationwide to be awarded a Building for Life Award 2010.
Led by CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) and the Home Builders Federation, Building for Life is the national standard for well-designed homes. In September, Cargo was among 20 UK schemes to receive a coveted Building for Life gold standard. Now a panel of judges chaired by designer Wayne Hemingway has taken these outstanding schemes and picked the ‘best of the best’.
The latest award comes after Cargo was named the Best Housing Scheme at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South West Town & Country Design Awards 2009.
Building for Life judges heaped praise on Cargo, saying it would “make life better” for the local area and adding that Cargo was, “an imaginative scheme which works cleverly with its surroundings in a challenging locality. The mix of business space with residential use will support the regeneration of the area”.
Wayne Hemmingway added personally: “This is an impressive achievement. We thought that Cargo was an excellent, brave scheme, with a very impressive façade, on a challenging site.”
Developed by Millbay’s lead developer English Cities Fund (ECf) and designed by Ferguson Mann Architects, Cargo cuts an impressive sight in Millbay Road and features 134 homes (33 of them affordable), business space, underground car parking and a landscaped courtyard garden.
Robert Poole, Projects Director for Muse Developments, one of the partners within ECf, said: “We wanted Cargo to be an inspirational first development for the regeneration of Millbay, so to have the scheme recognised as in the top 10 at a national level for its quality, design and the benefits it is bringing to the local community is fantastic.”
Millbay’s regeneration has continued with major infrastructure works carried out this summer by ECf to pave the way for future phases of development at Millbay. The work has restored Millbay’s historic Inner Basin, which will enable it to be brought back into use as a working marina and will create a focal point for future phases of development on the surrounding docksides.
ECf has also unveiled draft proposals for the next phase of development at Millbay, to the south of Millbay Road, opposite Cargo, which feature a mix of houses and apartments with associated parking and ground commercial space.
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