NEWS ARCHIVE

BASKERVILLE HOUSE WINS AT MIDLANDS PROPERTY AWARDS | 20/07/07

Baskerville House scoops top gong at awards evening

Baskerville House, recently transformed in a £30 million project by developer Targetfollow, has been honoured at a prestigious awards ceremony.

The landmark building, which overlooks Centenary Square in the heart of Birmingham, beat off stiff competition to win the Commercial Development of the Year award at the recent Midlands Property Week awards at the International Convention Centre.

The award, sponsored by international property consultants Drivers Jonas, recognised the spectacular rebirth of one of Birmingham’s best known buildings following the extensive renovation by Norwich-based Targetfollow.

As part of the multi-million pound transformation, the former council building was extended from six floors to eight with the development of two new floors at the top of the building that are set within a huge glass dome roof while the other floors are wrapped around two massive new glass atria.

The ground floor and first floor enjoy some of the building’s original features including stonework and wooden paneling while the rest of the building is of the highest Grade A specification, creating the city’s premier business destination which is already a quarter let less than a year after completion.

More than 1,000 members of the property community attended the event, considered the region’s premier awards ceremony of the year, and Ian Fox, Targetfollow’s executive director of property, said recognition was acknowledgement of the unique nature of the development.
He said: “We are delighted that Baskerville House has been recognised as the leading commercial development to be completed in the past 12 months, particularly as these awards are selected by an academy that includes respected property professionals. It is extremely gratifying to receive an award from ones peers.

“The combination of retaining the old while creating the new made Baskerville House an extremely challenging project but the fact that it is now a quarter let with more significant interest from potential occupiers shows that we were right to embark on what was at the time England’s largest speculative development of its kind.”

GVA Grimley, based in Brindleyplace, achieved a double win in the agency category, grabbing the Industrial Agency and Office Agency of the Year awards. The best design led project was handed to The Cube, the second phase of The Mailbox in Birmingham, and the Midlands Property Personality of the Year award went to David Wilson of Wilson Bowden.