WEMYSS and March Estates, together with land-promoter Socially Conscious Capital, has been named by The King’s Foundation as the 2024 winner of the UK-wide Landowner Award for its approach to development at Longniddry in East Lothian.
The King’s Foundation is a charity that works globally to create sustainable communities. The award, ‘for guiding and delivering the Conservation Area of tomorrow,’ places the Estate among only a handful of previous recipients and changemakers.
The Landowner Award is presented annually to projects that demonstrate excellence in design, community integration, and sustainability, with winners chosen by the Royal founding president of the charity, His Majesty King Charles III. The objective is to share best practice and raise awareness of legacy activities across the UK.
Longniddry South, also known as Longniddry Village, features a design that draws from the traditional towns and villages of East Lothian, whilst providing a mix of house types and tenures for a diverse range of household sizes and means. Provision is made for nature with a variety of green spaces such as wildflower meadow, an orchard, and a restored winding burn, as well as built-in habitat boxes.
The project also stands out for its ‘sensitive and environmentally-friendly’ conversion of the historic Longniddry Steading, helping the community to thrive by breathing life into a once-redundant asset with a range of businesses set to open throughout 2025, including a food store, a wellness studio, a beauty salon, and a cookery school.
Martin Andrews, factor of Wemyss and March Estates, said, “We are incredibly honoured to have received this prestigious award from The King’s Foundation, which celebrates our endeavours to ensure that what we develop makes an enduring and valued contribution within our home county of East Lothian. Our aim has been to envision a place that not only looks great but that also has sustainability and quality of life at its heart.”
Building a Legacy is an initiative of The King’s Foundation that brings together thought leaders and new ideas in sustainable placemaking.
