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The role of the consultant in a regeneration project is partly pragmatic 鈥� to operate the vast and complex administrative machinery that funds and regulates it. It is also partly to do with vision and partly to do with the still mildly taboo subject of social engineering: communities must be imagined, and they must be achievable. It was the judges鈥� opinion that EDAW was the best consultant in the UK at fulfilling those requirements.

For a start, there is the scale of the work: from megaprojects such as the vast King鈥檚 Cross Central scheme and the rethinking of Blackpool, all the way down to neighbourhood renewal plans in Tower Hamlets and Black Law wind farm. However, if you鈥檙e looking for a single project that demonstrates EDAW鈥檚 ability, it is probably the Olympic masterplan. Not only does this co-ordinate the work of four local authorities, and provide a framework for what will probably be the largest regeneration project in Europe, but it played a key role in winning the games for London in the first place. Nuff said.

EDAW鈥檚 masterplan for the 2012 Olympic park in Lea Valley was instrumental in London鈥檚 success

Runners-up

This practice has a team of 240 experts able to offer a total advice service for regeneration clients. What that grand phrase actually means on the ground is shown by the role it played in the UK鈥檚 largest public sector land transfer deal, in which 96 sites containing enough acreage to build 5000 homes was transferred from the Department of Health to English Partnerships. DTZ rode shotgun on the entire process. John Lewis, the director of EP鈥檚 strategic joint ventures, described the deal itself as a milestone in joined-up government, and praised the 鈥渟trong team performance鈥� between DTZ and Whitehall.

Gardner stewart architects

Only six times has CABE handed out its Gold Standard Award to a masterplan, and on two of those occasions it was Gardner Stewart who took receipt. This smallish consultant 鈥� it has a staff of 55 鈥� has pulled off some large schemes, including the much applauded Royal Docks masterplan, which contains the award-winning Peabody crescent and earth-sheltered buildings. The odd thing is that the practice is still relatively little known. As one commentator said: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe there is a practice working in Britain today that has had so little media acclaim for so much outstanding regeneration work.鈥� Well, this shortlisting has done a little to set that right.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Fifty million square feet of regeneration has benefited from the wise advice of Jones Lang LaSalle鈥檚 43-strong professional team. It has a number of superb projects to its credit, such as the 拢60m redevelopment of Dartford business park in the Thames Gateway. Dartford council later lauded the firm for the way it had been able to offer big-picture advice on commercial strategy and the appointment of the developers, as well as the fine detail of 鈥渓ettings and values on everything from housing through to distribution and logistics鈥�.

Urban Initiatives

Not only is Urban Initiatives at the cutting-edge of contemporary regeneration practice, it wrote the book about contemporary regeneration theory. The book in question is By Design, a best practice guide for the former DETR and CABE. This work was later used to provide a training course for local authorities, and has thereby played a key role in creating the savvy public sector clients that the process relies on. The philosophy of the firm is to create 鈥渁 rich urban fabric that caters to all the needs of its users鈥� and 鈥渁 community vision鈥�. Which hits the nail precisely on the head.