In the coming weeks, Leeds Victoria will get two new rooftop restaurants with great views over Kirkgate. A spiral stair and oak lined atrium connects them to the new arcade, lit from above by a sculptural ceiling. The computer generated dome design was built with 18,000 pieces of stained oak. The offset in three dimensions between the oak pieces allows daylight through and creates sensations of levity and movement, despite the weight of 4 tonnes. The continuity of oak on walls, balustrade and the domes seeks to unify walls and ceiling, to evoke the visual sensation of a tall and mysterious contemporary grotto.

The mock-up for our footbridge over the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal has arrived on site. This footbridge will connect the newly developed Europacity area to the east, across the canal where the Berlin Wall separated Berlin from 1961 to 1989.

The 2m long mock-up gives a first  impression of the steel work for the laser cut balustrade which forms the main structural beam of the bridge. The degree of openings of the perforation reflects the gradient of forces within the structural balustrade, more solid to the abutments, more open to its centre.

At last night's awards ceremony in Hull, RIBA Yorkshire awarded Victoria Gate the award for Best Building of the Year and an RIBA Regional award. It is a great honour to see a decade of work from many people at Hammerson, ACME, McAlpine and the wider design team recognized in this way. 

The RIBA Yorkshire awards follows on from recent success of Victoria Gate at Mipim in Cannes where it won the award for Best International Shopping Centre and from the Irish Concrete Society where it won the award for Best International Project.

We look forward to the next award ceremony in Melbourne, Australia, where our Library and Public Square in Eastland has been shortlisted for the Victorian Architecture Awards by the Australian Institute of Architects.

Victoria Gate Arcades has won the award for best building of 2016 at the Leeds Architecture Awards. We are delighted that the building has been recognised in this way to acknowledge all the work from a large group of dedicated people across Leeds City Council, Hammerson, Waterman Structures, Hoare Lea, Gardiner & Theobald, ACME and others. 

Construction works have started on site in Leipzig for our new headquarter building for SAB. Concrete guide walls have been installed to set out the position of the diaphragm walls around the site, making the extent of the 100 m x 100 m site visible for the first time. Contaminated groundwater is expected 3m below ground level, so a watertight wall around the site has to be installed before any further works can commence.

Following the soft launch of the Watermark Westquay in December last year most of the restaurants and the bowling alley at Watermark are now open. This Friday, 10th February, the project reaches another major milestone with the opening of the ten screen Cinema. From it's elevated position the foyer offers fantastic new views to the waterfront and the plaza below, between the curving stainless steel tubes of the facade.

More than 12 years have passed since the inception of the project, we can't wait to see this last key piece of the Watermark puzzle in place and the people of Southampton enjoying a new corner of the city and a stroll through the new square along the medieval city walls.