The Parcels Building on Oxford Street, London, has been named Overall Winner in this year’s Schüco Excellence Awards.
The project, designed by Grafton Architects in collaboration with specialist contractor Structura UK, also won the award for Refurbishment and Adaptive Reuse.
Originally built in 1957, the development gets its name from the historic Royal Mail post office tunnels that run beneath it. The project involved stripping the building back to its core and introducing a new, clean-lined classic façade to echo the iconic Selfridges building opposite.
The judges were impressed by the creative approach to reusing an existing structure, and the transformation achieved by the new façade, which enhanced both the building’s appearance and performance. They applauded The Parcels Building as an exemplar for revitalising outdated buildings on urban sites and were further impressed that the scheme is targeting BREEAM Outstanding and on track to achieve net zero carbon.
The awards, presented in association with Architecture Today, were announced at a celebratory lunch at The Pelligon, Canary Wharf, last week. The event was hosted by architectural designer and television presenter Charlie Luxton.
The Schüco Excellence Awards event also featured the coveted People’s Choice award, voted for by attendees on the day. This year the audience awarded that honour to One St Brelade by Axis Mason, Castletree Group and specialist contractors Style Windows and Murus.
One St Brelade is a residential development located on Jersey’s southern coastline. The building is characterised by continuous granite-clad curvilinear balconies interspersed with circular columns and full-height glazing.
Schüco UK sales director Dan Gleeson, who presented the awards alongside Charlie Luxton, said: “While our awards programme has been running for over a decade this was my first Excellence Awards since joining Schüco last year. I was thoroughly impressed by the breadth of innovative projects submitted, and it was an honour to celebrate with the very best in the industry.
“I’m proud to see the versatility of our systems showcased on such worthy winning projects, and want to congratulate the design teams, technical experts and skilled craftspeople who have worked together so successfully to create them.”
