A truly rewarding year
By Rob Groves, MEPC
Opening up new pedestrian routes through the city while creating a new and truly mixed use destination for Birmingham, in an area as sensitive as its civic heart, is no easy task.
The MEPC team here at Paradise has been working hard to deliver an exemplary scheme that achieves exactly what it needs to – break down barriers, improve connectivity and create jobs and opportunities for local people.
We’ve been dedicated to the project for more than a decade and a half, and this underlines two key factors: the long term thinking behind everything we do, and our commitment to seeing the scheme through to its conclusion and improving the built environment of the city for the benefit of all.
And one of the things that has resonated over the past year has been the number of industry awards that have come our way on the back of our clear aims and goals.
It is always a privilege for the scheme, our consultants and our team, to be recognised for the work carried out at Paradise. Whatever we are doing or achieving, and especially when that affects so many people, whether they are occupiers, visitors or local residents, it’s satisfying to be respected for that by our peers.
Awards that came our way during 2022 include accolades from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Institute of Civil Engineers, and awards given by many of the business and sector media, such as Midlands Business Insider, The Design Council’s Festival of Place and Architects Journal.
What each and every one of these awards demonstrates is the commitment to excellence that underpins everything we, and the wider team of consultants, do.
During 2022 Paradise also attracted renewed attention thanks to the plans we brought forward to complete its second phase through a new public square, a hotel and a further office building, Three Chamberlain Square. At the same time, we remain focused on the work already underway on buildings like Octagon and One Centenary Way, which will open its doors in 2023.
To be recognised for what we are doing is always a real thrill and tells the team that we must be doing something right.
Not that awards should encourage complacency. Instead, they should spur you on to work harder to ensure the standards you’re setting for your work is maintained. And that is exactly what we aim to do.