A TRANSFORMATION of the remaining part of the former Daimler car factory into a creative hub has been short-listed for three prizes at the 2022 Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards.
The Daimler Powerhouse Creation Centre is up for the Community Benefit, Heritage, and Refurbishment/Revitalisation Project categories.
The Sandy Lane Business Park site is owned by local construction company The Wigley Group, which partnered with the arts sector, the Arts Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership to transform it into a creative centre of excellence.
Local authorities and community groups were also involved in the £2.4million transformation project, designed and built in time for the UK City of Culture.
The centre, run by Godiva Awakes Trust and Imagineer Productions, is the first purpose-built art production facility in the city.
The creative hub primarily focuses on outdoor arts and boasts fully-accessible outside areas.
Prince Charles is among the centre’s many admirers having visited shortly after the grand opening last August.
The RICS Awards highlight and reward inspirational land, real estate, construction and infrastructure projects.
The finalists will be judged throughout the month by a panel of experts, with the winners being announced in May.
Wigley Group chief executive officer James Davies said: “Thanks to joint work with a number of partners, we achieved what we set out to do from the start, creating a cultural legacy on a site of historical importance – and one which would become a real flagbearer for the UK City of Culture.”
David Brooks Wilson FRICS, who chairs the RICS Awards, added: “Despite much uncertainty and challenging conditions over the past couple of years, property professionals across the UK continue to deliver exemplary, and in many cases, world-class built projects that are having a profoundly positive impact on our cities and towns.”
