Cargo was judged the Winner of the Housing Scheme award at the (RIBA) South West Town & Country Design Awards, held in Bristol, on Wednesday September 30.
Commanding views over the waterfront and featuring 134 stylish and superbly equipped one and two-bedroom apartments and four bedroom townhouses, underground car parking and a landscaped courtyard garden Cargo (www.cargoplymouth.com) cuts an impressive sight in Millbay Road.
Judges lavished high praise on the “striking” building, designed by Acanthus Ferguson Mann architects, with juror Stan Bolt saying: “Cargo has the potential to contribute significantly and influence dramatically the revitalisation and regeneration of Plymouth.”
They added that Cargo “puts down a marker for the future redevelopment of Millbay – a large, bold, striking urban block, which crisply articulates its component parts in an array of quality materials”.
Individual units were described as, “light and airy and presenting an identical pallet of quality materials, finished and detailed in an unfussy and practical manner”.
Robert Poole projects Director for Millbay’s lead developer English Cities Fund, said: “Right from the outset with Cargo we were looking for quality and a bold, contemporary design which set the scene for the regeneration of Millbay. Our thanks go to Acanthus Ferguson Mann for designing us a great building. We are absolutely delighted with the award but also with the judges’ comments that we have achieved what we set out to do and created something special in this spectacularly located part of Plymouth.”
Cargo was officially opened earlier this year and has proved very popular, with fewer than 30 of its 134 apartments and townhouses remaining available. Businesses are also signing up to move into the commercial space on the ground floors of the development.
The award win comes hard on the heels of more good news for Millbay after the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) announced last month that it was investing £4.5 million in the regeneration scheme.
It will enable Millbay’s lead developer English Cities Fund (ECf) to continue to progress the scheme during the current economic downturn, creating much needed jobs and putting Millbay in the best possible position for when the upturn comes.
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