The Pineapples Awards 2025

The Pineapples Awards 2025 will celebrate outstanding contributions to placemaking and urban development. Launched in 2019 by The Developer in partnership with the Design Council, these awards recognise projects that create thriving communities. They highlight places where people want to live, work, play, shop, and learn.  The pineapple, a traditional symbol of welcome in UK architecture, serves as the award’s emblem. It embodies hospitality and inclusivity, reflecting the core values of great placemaking.

Categories and Criteria: The Pineapples Awards 2025

The awards feature diverse categories, each emphasising a unique aspect of placemaking:

• Place of the Year: Celebrates a thriving place that serves its community and enhances its surroundings.
• Place in Progress: Recognises projects making significant strides, with at least one phase operational.
• Future Place: Highlights visionary projects poised to enhance urban life upon completion.
• Future Public Realm: Focuses on upcoming public spaces designed to foster community interaction.
• International Future Place: Welcomes global projects that aim to transform their locations.
• Creative Retrofit: Showcases innovative adaptations of existing structures for new purposes.
• Community Engagement: Rewards initiatives that actively involve local populations in development.
• Public Space: Acknowledges areas that provide accessible and enjoyable environments for all.
• Activation: Recognises efforts that enliven spaces through events or temporary installations.
• Climate Resilience: Honors projects that incorporate sustainable practices to address environmental challenges.
• Infrastructure: Highlights developments that improve connectivity and urban functionality.

New categories for The Pineapples Awards 2025 include:

• Child-Friendly Place: Focuses on spaces designed with children’s needs in mind.
• Strategy: Recognises comprehensive plans that guide successful placemaking.
• Healthy Homes: Celebrates housing projects that promote well-being, in partnership with the TCPA and supported by Wates Group.
• Community Space: Acknowledges areas that foster social interaction and cohesion.
• Building: Highlights individual structures that positively contribute to their surroundings.

Recognising the Best in Public Space Design

The Pineapple for Public Space category honors projects that create inclusive, engaging, and enduring environments. These projects transform urban areas into inviting, functional, and sustainable spaces.

Shortlisted entries undergo rigorous evaluation, assessing their impact, innovation, and contribution to placemaking. Finalists will present their projects at the Festival of Pineapples from February 25-27, 2025. Industry experts and stakeholders will review the presentations before selecting the winners.

Barclays Beco Dragonfly Plot 4, Glasgow

This year, several remarkable projects have been shortlisted, including Dragonfly Plot 4 in Glasgow.  Situated within the expansive Barclays Campus along Glasgow’s riverside promenade, the Dragonfly Plot 4 project exemplifies a harmonious blend of innovative design and community-centric development. Collaborating with renowned firms such as OOBE, Stallan-Brand, Turner & Townsend, BDP, AECOM, Arup, and TUV SUD, the project has transformed a once underutilised area into a vibrant public space. The design draws inspiration from natural forms, creating an environment that fosters social interaction and well-being.

The project reimagines the city’s riverfront, creating a dynamic and accessible public space. Designed with sustainability in mind, it integrates green infrastructure and diverse planting to enhance biodiversity.

In 2022 Logic Manufactured Bespoke was tasked to work alongside Plean Precast to create various heights and shaped raised planter edging, working in collaboration with Oobe Landscape Architects.  Key successful features are:

• Defining Green Spaces: Our raised planter edging systems created structured planting areas, enhancing visual appeal and organisation.
• Encouraging Biodiversity: Supporting urban planting schemes, our raised planter edging products helped create habitats for pollinators and wildlife.
• Improving Accessibility: Thoughtful placement of raised planters ensured greenery remained an integral, yet unobtrusive, feature.
• Sustainability Focus: Designed for durability, our products support long-term landscape resilience and consequently reduce maintenance needs.

Public spaces like Dragonfly Plot 4 are vital to urban life, above all they provide places for recreation, relaxation, and community interaction. The project seamlessly integrates seating areas, pathways, and greenery, encouraging people to connect so that they enjoy their environment.

Looking Ahead

As urban landscapes evolve, projects like Dragonfly Plot 4 demonstrate the value of thoughtful, sustainable, and community-driven design. We are honoured to contribute to this development and look forward to seeing its lasting impact.

The Pineapples Awards 2025 shine a spotlight on the best in placemaking, without a doubt we are excited to see which projects take home this year’s honours. Regardless of the results, being part of a shortlisted project reinforces our commitment to supporting exceptional public space design with durable, high-quality landscape solutions.

For more details about The Pineapples Awards 2025 and the shortlisted projects, visit the Festival of Place website.

Interested to hear more about the Barclays Beco project?  Our Spotlight Article provides in-depth details about this award nominated project along with the project mood board behind the scheme.