It is the fourth time in the last six years that Drum has won the awards’ major prize, making it the most successful company in the seven-year history of the event.

More than 800 guests from across Scotland attended the awards last night at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. 

The Property Company of the Year award reflects another successful year for Drum, with the group further enhancing its position as the market leader for transformational development projects across Scotland.  Drum currently has 2,500,000 sq. ft. of live development in Scotland, together with a £900 million project pipeline. The judges’ comments reflected Drum’s continued growth during the last 12 months and the group’s increasing impact on the commercial property sector both in Scotland and across the UK.

Drum was recognised “for their pursuit of opportunity, and ability to deliver large scale projects in a variety of locations including Buchanan Wharf, one of Glasgow’s largest urban regeneration schemes”.

Welcoming the award, Graeme Bone, group managing director of Drum, said: “We are obviously very pleased for Drum to be recognised at the awards once again, and are especially proud to be named Property Company of the Year for the fourth time in the past six years. The award reflects the dedication and commitment of the Drum team as we continue to create and deliver transformational development activity throughout Scotland. 

“During 2019, the company launched a significant number of projects and secured operator commitments for over 900,000 sq. ft of development in Scotland, building on the success of previous years and further enhancing our significant market share. This included the agreement of the first institutional build-to-rent transaction in Scotland -a hugely significant deal which should act as a catalyst for a new wave of institutional investment in the country. We look forward to continuing to build an exciting pipeline of new projects to build on this success in the coming years.”

Clyde Gateway had a big win last night as its landmark building, Red Tree Magenta, took home the Regeneration of the Year award.  

The £9m, 40,000 sq.ft Grade A modern premises is the first building at Magenta, a new 27-acre urban business park situated in Shawfield, next to the River Clyde and M74 motorway network.

It is home to 30 tenant companies, bringing 170 jobs to the area with a range of amenities including a Nespresso café, superfast fibre connections, collaborative working and breakout spaces, a garden roof terrace and electric car charging points.

Martin McKay, executive director at Clyde Gateway, said: “These awards recognise the pinnacle of Scottish property. The Red Tree Magenta building is special and occupiers have flocked here thanks to the flexible and collaborative workspaces, superb specification and fantastic value for money on offer.

“More and more businesses are choosing Clyde Gateway as ‘the place’ to do business and winning at these prestigious awards is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team.”

BDP’s approach to designing and creating educational spaces was acknowledged as the Glasgow studio won the title of Architectural Excellence Award for Public Use for the recently opened Maidenhill Primary and Nursery School, in East Renfrewshire.

Lindsey Mitchell, architect director, BDP Glasgow Studio, said: “We are delighted to win this award, for Maidenhill Primary School, in recognition of our approach to designing education spaces and creating schools that deliver academic, social, economic benefits to the wider community.

“East Renfrewshire Council aspires to provide the best learning environments for children, and on this project, we were able to create a building that supports the school to achieve their educational and societal aspirations through architecture.”

Wallyford Primary School was given the much-coveted Public Development of the Year title, a category recognising a development that has contributed to the improvement of a local community.

The £19m Wallyford Primary is one of the largest primary schools in Scotland, providing 28 classrooms and four nursery classes, offering up to 120 pre-school places, as well as resources for wider use by the community, including a new library. Officially opened in April 2019, the school has been designed with the future in mind, built with expansion plans for projected increases in school rolls. Its construction resulted in £5.8m social value for the local area and the building has received positive feedback from stakeholders. As the population of Wallyford grows, the school will be a community Hub positioned at the heart of the town.

This project was delivered for East Lothian Council by its development partner hub South East and main contractor Morrison Construction. It was designed by JM Architects.

Paul McGirk, hub South East’s chief executive, said: “Winning Public Development of the Year is recognition of the true partnership working, collaborative design, quality construction and social value delivered on the Wallyford Primary project.

“We were delighted to join the team on stage last night to collect this prestigious award and we look forward with excitement to working on future projects with East Lothian Council.”

Eddie Robertson, managing director for Morrison Construction Building Central, added: ”We are proud to have delivered this fantastic school and to be recognised last night as part of the award-winning team.

”We’re particularly pleased that during construction, our progressive social value programme invested £5.8 million into the community through the employment of local businesses and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners in East Lothian in the future.”

Councillor Shamin Akhtar, cabinet spokesperson for education, East Lothian Council, said: “We’re thrilled by this prestigious award for Wallyford Primary School. The whole team deserves huge credit for their efforts in delivering a successful school building, and it’s fantastic to see it receiving national recognition.

“As well as incorporating the ideas of children into the design process, there are many aspects which reflect the heritage of the area, leading to the creation of an inspiring learning environment that is rooted in its community. The facilities within the school have been developed to a very high standard and we’re delighted by the very positive feedback from children, parents, staff and the wider community ever since its opening last year.

“With East Lothian being one of Scotland’s fastest growing council areas, the new school and other developments at Wallyford provide significant opportunities for residents in terms of benefitting from new, improved community facilities.”

The strength of Shoosmiths’ growing real estate division in Scotland was underlined after scooping the Property Legal Team of the Year.

Shoosmiths’ 25+ strong real estate team beat off stiff competition from finalists Dentons and Brodies to confirm its reputation as one of Scotland’s go-to teams in the ultra-competitive commercial property sector.

Clyde Gateway's Location Advisory Team

In a busy year which has seen the firm onboard a number of new blue-chip clients in Scotland, including Robertson Group and Keepmoat, Shoosmiths has also extended its geographical footprint. In 2019 it opened a Glasgow office to complement its successful Edinburgh operation and to maximize the opportunities for growth identified by the firm in the west.

Janette Speed, recently appointed head of real estate for Shoosmiths in Scotland, said: “In a highly competitive legal sector, it speaks volumes for the quality of work being undertaken by my hard-working real estate colleagues in Glasgow and Edinburgh that Shoosmiths has won Property Legal Team of the Year at the respected Scottish Property Awards.

“The award underlines our growing presence and ambition for further growth in Scotland and rightly recognises the reputation of our real estate division as best in class, and a quality team putting the client experience at the heart of everything it does.”

Other awards presented on the night included the Development of the Year (Commercial) which was presented to The Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA). The development was specifically recognised for its environmental and sustainability credentials including the use of local materials in creating what the judges praised as a world-class building.

The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, designed by Ryder Architecture, was also recognised in both the Healthcare Development of the Year and Innovation in Design categories. The Glasgow-based hospice is designed to put families and patients first and its design reflects the importance of therapeutic benefits of the landscape and surroundings of the building.

The popular Deal of the Year category, sponsored by PMP, was selected by the judging panel from a shortlist of six significant transactions noted for complexity, size, risk and value.  The award was presented to the deal team of Osborne + Co, Scotsbridge Holdings, Savills, JLL, DLA Piper and Shepherd and Wedderburn for the JP Morgan Chase Technology Hub in Glasgow.