Willerby Landscapes has won the Grand Award at this year’s Green-tech-sponsored National Landscape Awards for its Battersea Power Station Phase 2 Roof Garden. This is the 7th Grand Award win for the Edenbridge-based company, setting a record for the highest number of top prizes won by any company in the
Accredited Contractor Maylim is celebrating at the 46th National Landscape Awards, taking home the prestigious Grand Award, sponsored by Green-tech, and Principal Award in their category for Hard Landscaping Construction (non-domestic) – Over £500K for the redevelopment of the unique Exchange Square, London. The annual National Landscape Awards, held at
British Association of Landscape Industries’ Accredited Contractor Graduate Gardeners has swept the 45th National Landscape Awards, taking home the prestigious Grand Award, the Principal Award in their category, and a Special Award for Best Design and Build for their breathtaking scheme, Private Garden, Cheltenham. The annual National Landscape Awards, held
Entries are now open for the 43rd BALI National Landscape Awards supported by Headline Sponsor Green-tech. The largest landscape industry awards in Europe returns on Friday 6 December at the JW Marriott, Grosvenor House, Park Lane London and BALI Registered members can now download the 2019 Entry Guidelines at baliawards.co.uk
Willerby Landscapes has won the Grand Award at this year’s Green-tech-sponsored National Landscape Awards for its Battersea Power Station Phase 2 Roof Garden. This is the 7th Grand Award win for the Edenbridge-based company, setting a record for the highest number of top prizes won by any company in the 47-year history of the Awards. The annual National Landscape Awards are the largest of their kind in Europe and are open to all members of the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI). The Awards recognise excellence in landscape design, construction, and maintenance both in the UK and overseas, as well as exceptional supplier service and employer excellence. The Grand Award is the ultimate accolade, given to the entry judged to be the best out of all 69 National Awards presented earlier in the year. Kris Nellist, Managing Director of headline sponsor Green-tech, commented, “As the UK’s largest supplier to the landscape industry, we are committed to raising its profile through the National Landscape Awards. We congratulate Willerby Landscapes and all the other award winners on their achievements, which demonstrate the extraordinary quality of the work delivered by our fellow members.” The winning scheme is part of the regeneration of the iconic Battersea Power Station. The full 43-acre, Grade II* listed site is being transformed into a mixed-use development, including residential, bars, restaurants, office space, shops and entertainment space. Phase II includes the creation of the numerous gardens, courtyard, terraces, balconies and walkways, designed by LDA Design and Andy Sturgeon Design, with the landscaping works completed by Willerby Landscapes. Chair of the judging panel, John Melmoe, said, “Every aspect of this impressive project, from planning and design, site preparation, health and safety, and logistics, to the craftsmanship, horticultural expertise, and detailing, has been exemplary. When problems are seen as opportunities to excel and perfection is the collective goal, it is little wonder that the industry uses this contractor’s achievements as a benchmark. This year they have raised the bar once again.” This year’s National Landscape Awards were judged over the summer with 69 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 50 members of the Association in September and 24 Principal, four Special and the coveted Grand Award announced live on stage at the prestigious Grosvenor House ceremony. British Association of Landscape Industries Chief Executive, Wayne Grills commented: “These Awards are coveted because they truly represent the best of our industry. Every UK construction and design project is visited personally by a Judge and scrutinised individually, then decisions are debated by the Judging Panel to make sure they demonstrate the level of excellence expected from a National Landscape Award winner.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Accredited Contractor Maylim is celebrating at the 46th National Landscape Awards, taking home the prestigious Grand Award, sponsored by Green-tech, and Principal Award in their category for Hard Landscaping Construction (non-domestic) – Over £500K for the redevelopment of the unique Exchange Square, London. The annual National Landscape Awards, held at the iconic JW Marriott Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London celebrates the skills, hard work, quality, commitment, and successes of Association members and are the largest awards of their kind in Europe. They recognise excellence in landscape design, construction, and maintenance both in the UK and overseas, as well as supplier exceptional service and employer excellence. This is the second Grand Award win for hard and soft landscaping specialists Maylim, who won back in 2017 for One Tower Bridge. They have over 20 years’ experience in executing high-quality public realm and landscaping schemes, as well as highway and civil engineering projects, across both public and private sectors. The Grand award-winning project, ‘Exchange Square’ sits at the heart of Broadgate, London’s largest pedestrianised neighbourhood. Suspended above the tracks of Liverpool Street Station, the landscape, spanning 5,000m2, unfolds across several levels to create a more natural topography. Exchange Square is a new public park, which has been re-imagined as a bucolic landscape with trees, generously planted borders, and green space. Rather than simply demolish the existing scheme, the contractor chose to ‘deconstruct’ it, dismantling and removing the hard materials, including 300 tonnes of granite and 20 tonnes of boulders, and re-purposing them on other public realm projects. This approach has reduced the environmental impact and financial costs of the new scheme. This year’s National Landscape Awards’ Judges, led by experienced Chair John Melmoe, jointly commented that “This scheme is not only an exemplar of public realm landscaping excellence, fully deserving of the Grand Award, but also a lesson in finding and pursuing alternative solutions to the challenges faced by contractors who are replacing existing hard landscapes.” The project aimed to transform the ageing, corporate and rectilinear former square into an accessible, natural city park with sweeping curves and a four-fold increase in green space. A bespoke and unique pallet of materials was used across the scheme, quite different to any other public realm in the UK. Over 3,000 individual pieces of CNC cut terrazzo form the sweeping amphitheatre, cascading water feature and raised planters. From start to finish, placemaking was at the very heart of the project. Throughout the construction period, Maylim’s interaction and collaboration with local communities and businesses surrounding Exchange Square extended the positive impacts of the scheme, providing opportunities for rest and relaxation amidst the bustle of city life. Chair of the Judging Panel John Melmoe concluded: “The repurposing and reusing of existing materials on this project has reduced the environmental impact and financial costs of the new scheme and must surely be a sustainable way forward for future public realm projects.” Lifetime Achievement The Association is currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary, and in recognition of the progress the Association has made in this time, the Board of Directors wished to recognise an individual who was instrumental in its founding, with the Associations first ever Lifetime Achievement Award. Nigel Bowcock, National Chair announced the first Lifetime Achievement Award was being presented to Jeffrey Bernhard OBE. Jeffrey was a founding member of the Association in 1972, and the first National Chair. He, along with the support of others, gave thousands of hours of their own time, alongside their business and personal commitments to establish the Association as a trade body representing the best interests of the whole industry. 63 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 53 members Awards entries were judged over the summer with 63 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 53 members of the Association in September and 26 Principal, 3 Special and the coveted Grand Award announced live on stage at the prestigious ceremony. Other notable wins announced at the Awards ceremony came from Accredited Contractor Nurture Landscapes who won 4 Principal Awards, for Kings Cross Estate, Winnersh Triangle Business Park, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and 250 Bishopsgate. Bowles & Wyer and Wright Landscapes were both presented with 3 Principal Awards, and 2021 Grand Award winners Graduate Gardeners won 2 Principal Awards for private gardens in Cheltenham and Painswick. Best First Time Entrant, sponsored by Makita UK, was awarded to Ellicar for their Wildlife & Water Garden in Nottinghamshire. Best Design and Build, sponsored by Springbridge Direct, went to The Garden Company for their work at a new build private residence in West Hill. Phoebe Hay of Landform Consultants was presented with a Special Award for Exemplary Horticultural Skill, sponsored by CED Stone Group, for their roof garden project, The Garden at 120. See the full list of winners Events Project Manager, Emily Feeney said: “Once again, this year’s National Landscape Awards has highlighted the fantastic work our Association members have achieved. Despite an ever-changing climate, year on year members continue to produce outstanding schemes that showcase the best the industry has to offer. A huge congratulations from myself and the rest of the Landscape House team to all this year’s winners and in particular our 2022 Grand Award Winner, Maylim!” British Association of Landscape Industries Chief Executive, Wayne Grills commented: “I am delighted to welcome back our members and guests to the 46th National Landscape Awards. Congratulations to all of our Principal and Special Award winners, with huge congratulations to Maylim, our 2022 Grand Award winner, which impressed our judges not only with the landscaping excellence of the overall project, but also the additional repurposing of existing materials, reducing the financial costs of the scheme, and highlighting the importance of sustainability”. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
British Association of Landscape Industries’ Accredited Contractor Graduate Gardeners has swept the 45th National Landscape Awards, taking home the prestigious Grand Award, the Principal Award in their category, and a Special Award for Best Design and Build for their breathtaking scheme, Private Garden, Cheltenham. The annual National Landscape Awards, held at the iconic JW Marriott Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London celebrates the skills, hard work, quality, commitment, and successes of Association members and are the largest awards of their kind in Europe. They recognise excellence in landscape design, construction, and maintenance both in the UK and overseas, as well as Supplier exceptional service and employer excellence. Cotswold garden design specialists Graduate Gardeners are a multi award-winning design, construction, and landscaping company with nearly 50 years’ experience in creating exquisite contemporary and traditional gardens throughout Gloucestershire and the surrounding counties. The Grand award-winning project, ‘Private Garden, Cheltenham’ was a challenging under-taking. The client’s grounds were on a steeply sloping site and the brief was to maximise the view, provide better parking, enhance the entrance and create a more useable space within the garden. This required the skillful implementation of a design comprising a significant amount of groundworks to restructure the site. Italianate styling was used to create a truly beautiful private landscape for the owners to enjoy. This year’s National Landscape Awards’ Judges, led by Chair of the Judging Panel John Melmoe, jointly commented that by far the most impressive structural element of this design was the traditional dry stone retaining wall. Over 600 tons of material was excavated with over 300 tons of walling stone used, each piece placed by hand to create a wall 1.5m deep at the base – 500mm below ground level and 600mm at the top, with the finished height an average of 1.8m. It was a testament to the skill of the landscaping team, not least because the site is notorious for movement; there would be no foundation for the wall, other than the stone beneath the ground. It was only one element of a delightful in-house design that had transformed the space and created the most beautiful setting for the house. The Judges commented that Graduate Gardeners had raised the bar, showing the heights their peers must reach to be in the running for the Grand Award. This large house, with far reaching views across Cheltenham to the Welsh Hills was undergoing a total renovation when Graduate Gardeners were approached. Both upper and lower gardens were steeply sloping and there were a number of significant areas of construction, most notably, constructing the traditional dry stone retaining wall. Due to the challenging environment, a structural engineer was brought in to ensure a secure wall would remain for years to come. The in-house design included a beautiful contemporary Italianate courtyard and wildflower meadows above the retaining walls. Porcelain was used throughout for all the paved surfaces aside from the steps. Finally, a sophisticated planting scheme completed the design. Chair of the Judging Panel John Melmoe concluded: “Graduate Gardeners have combined a bold and intuitive design with construction perfection. A well-oiled machine, the designer and build team have worked seamlessly together and in partnership with the client, to create a setting for this beautiful home that embraces and optimises the surrounding landscape and views.” 79 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 53 members Awards entries were judged over the summer with 79 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 53 members of the Association in September and 29 Principal, 4 Special and the coveted Grand Award announced live on stage at the prestigious ceremony. Other notable wins announced at the Awards ceremony came from Accredited Contractor Nurture Landscapes who won 2 Principal Awards, 1 for the UK Trade Desk and one for Milton Park – Oxfordshire and Bluestone Landscapes, recipients of a Principal award in the Roof Gardens/Living Wall Installations – Residential Roof Garden or Podium Landscaping – Under £250,000 category and also winners of a Special Award for Best Newcomer to BALI, sponsored by CED Stone Group. Best First Time Entrant, sponsored by Makita UK, went to Bespoke Stone Walling for their work at a Private Residence in Gloucestershire. Best Use of Technology, sponsored by Overtec, went to a project by Carrier Landscapes who entered the Regeneration Scheme under £500,000 category, sponsored by AHS. Carrier Landscapes won the award for the work they did at Kelham Hall, Nesfield Parterre de Broderie. There have only ever been two parterre restorations at Kelham Hall, one back in the 1950s and this second one by Carrier Landscapes. This was the fourth year the Awards were successfully delivered in-house by the British Association of Landscape Industries and the first at JW Marriott, Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London following last year’s necessary, virtual ceremony. Events Project Manager, Emily Feeney said: “It has been fantastic to have so many members come together in person once again to celebrate the culmination of so much of their hard work. The passion and dedication to quality I see in this role continues to astound me and after what has been one of the most trying years for so many it has been even more humbling to bear witness to such resilience and excellence.” Host for the ceremony BBC Radio Five Live’s Colin Murray brought a light-hearted feel to the afternoon and shared stories about his aspirations as a young man to pursue a career in landscaping prior to being lured into the world of journalism to the delight of close to 1,000 VIPs, members and guests and for the first year a virtual audience viewing the ceremony via a livestream. British Association of Landscape Industries Chief Executive, Wayne Grills commented: “I am thrilled to welcome back our members and guests to the 45th National Landscape Awards. A huge congratulations goes to our 2021 Grand Award winner Graduate Gardeners for their outstanding project that wowed the Judges with its brave and intuitive design and construction perfection that epitomised the exemplary work of Association members. Congratulations go to all
Entries are now open for the 43rd BALI National Landscape Awards supported by Headline Sponsor Green-tech. The largest landscape industry awards in Europe returns on Friday 6 December at the JW Marriott, Grosvenor House, Park Lane London and BALI Registered members can now download the 2019 Entry Guidelines at baliawards.co.uk and enter their scheme(s). BALI Registered members can take advantage of this year’s Early Bird discounted rates, with the first deadline for Registered Contractor, Registered Designer and Group members set for 24 April 2019. The Early Bird deadline for International, Affiliate Exceptional Service and Employer Excellence categories is 5 June 2019. For 2019, one new category has been introduced, International Award – UK-Based Registered Member, which is for BALI Registered members who are registered in the UK but have delivered a landscaping scheme overseas. Along with a number of band changes in other pre-existing categories, the exciting introduction and revisions were based on feedback from members and the BALI Awards adjudication panel. The 2019 BALI National Landscape Awards is expected to be as big and as grand as previous years with over 1,000 members, guests and VIPs attending the 2017 and 2018 ceremonies. Adjudicators, led by the Chair of the Adjudication Panel John Melmoe, will be visiting eligible schemes between June and August and the 2019 BALI National Landscape Award winners will be announced in September. Final adjudication to determine this year’s Principal, Special and Grand Awards will take place at BALI Landscape House at the end of August. Commenting on this year’s Awards, former Managing Director of six-time Grand Award winner Willerby Landscapes, John Melmoe, said; “The BALI Awards ceremony in 2018 was a runaway success and now the team at BALI Landscape House are turning their focus to 2019. It is credit to the members of BALI who have made the Awards into the most prestigious event in the industry calendar. A key way to showcase your company’s capabilities is to submit an entry into this year’s Awards. The entrants should be fully focused on submitting flawless projects, highlighting the significant contribution of your staff and the underlying desire for your company to excel. It would give me and my fellow adjudicators great pleasure to see you at this year’s Awards in December. Good luck with your entries.” BALI Chief Executive Wayne Grills is also looking forward to seeing if the high bar already set on quality can be raised even higher in 2019; “Ever since the Awards were first launched over 40 years ago the standard of entry has improved tenfold. This is testament to the quality of work delivered by our BALI Registered members, and, the overall quality of judging which helps BALI identify which individual or company is deserving of a prestigious BALI National Landscape Award.” BALI would like to thank those sponsors who have already committed to this year’s Awards: Green-tech Bourne Amenity British Sugar TOPSOIL CED Stone Group Crowders Nurseries Derbyshire Aggregates Easigrass Europlants UK Fresh Horticultural Careers Green-tree Topsoil Ground Control ICL Group idverde Johnsons of Whixley Landscape Institute MCM (SE) Provender Nurseries Ransomes Jacobsen Reesink Turfcare Van Den Berk Nurseries To view and/or download this year’s Entry Guidelines, check all Early Bird deadlines and enter a scheme visit baliawards.co.uk.
