1st February 2026.
TOWN receives three Pineapple Award nominations at the 2026 Festival of Place.
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TOWN has received three nominations at the 2026 Festival of Place Pineapple Awards, recognising our positive impact through engagement and placemaking.
The nominations span two categories for Westwick Row in Hemel Hempstead — Community Engagement and Future Place — alongside a Strategy nomination for the Sunniside Place Strategy in Sunderland.
Westwick Row: Community Engagement and Future Place
Westwick Row, our project with The Crown Estate in Leverstock Green, has been shortlisted for two awards that recognise both how the project has been shaped and what it aims to become.
The Community Engagement nomination reflects a nine-month programme of sustained involvement, including more than 30 hours of long-form codesign with local residents, renters and future cohousing members, alongside open public consultation.
The people involved helped shape key decisions as the project evolved, including the layout of the neighbourhood, movement and access, shared spaces and the principles for long-term management and stewardship. Designers, client, future residents and the local community were in the room together, testing ideas in real time and building a shared understanding of what the place needed to be.
The nomination recognises that sustained, structured engagement can lead to clearer priorities, better design decisions and stronger trust around development.
The Future Place nomination recognises the ambition of the proposals themselves. Westwick Row brings together different types of housing — a cohousing community shaped and managed by its residents, alongside homes for rent — set within a shared landscape of gardens, play spaces and green routes.
The neighbourhood is designed to create a strong sense of place and belonging. Homes are arranged around sociable streets and shared spaces. Walking and cycling are prioritised, with safe, legible routes connecting through the site and into the wider area. Environmental performance has been built in from the start, with low-carbon homes, generous green infrastructure and a landscape designed to support both wellbeing and nature.
At a relatively small scale, Westwick Row demonstrates how development can still deliver meaningful outcomes: high-quality homes, shared community assets and a clear approach to long-term stewardship that keeps decision-making close to the people who live there.
Sunniside Place Strategy: Strategy
The Sunniside Place Strategy, developed for Sunderland City Council with Create Streets, has been shortlisted for the Pineapple Award for Strategy.
Published in 2023, the strategy is a 10-year action plan to repopulate and revitalise Sunniside, a historic neighbourhood within Sunderland city centre that had experienced long-term decline, low footfall and widespread vacancy. The strategy responds to these challenges through a clear, delivery-focused framework that addresses safety, stewardship, economic activity and community identity alongside physical change.
Engagement was central to its development and continues through delivery, with residents, businesses and creative organisations helping to shape priorities and actions.
We’re proud to see this work recognised and to be shortlisted alongside so many strong projects and strategies from across the UK.
Congratulations to all the finalists.
