SOUTHAMPTON’S Boldrewood Innovation Campus, the biggest university-industry collaboration in the UK, has won a top planning award.

The University of Southampton’s ten-year, £140 million Boldrewood Innovation Campus project won the Excellence in Planning to Create Economically Successful Places award in the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Awards 2016.

It involved the demolition of 32,000 m2 of redundant buildings and the creation of six major new buildings.

Roisin Willmott, RTPI awards advisor said: “The judges were impressed with the role planners played in turning a complex and multi-faceted project from vision to reality. The team has created a high quality campus that has an international, world class feel. They were particularly impressed by the rigorous focus on the end occupier, resulting in a place which has not only provided educational infrastructure and public realm improvements to the Southampton city region, but a catalyst for significant investment.”

The RTPI represents 23,000 planning professionals worldwide and promotes spatial planning, shapes policy and raises standards. The Awards for Planning Excellence have been run by the RTPI for nearly 40 years to recognise planning excellence.