Hatfield's rebuilt Market Place has won the East of England Constructing Excellence award for regeneration and conservation, its second win of the summer, and goes to the national final on 6 November.

Hatfield’s Market Place, the square in the town centre that reopened last autumn with an inclusive play area, new trees and new lighting, has won the Regeneration and Conservation category at the East of England Constructing Excellence Awards, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council announced on 6 August. It is the project’s second award of the summer and puts it through to the national Constructing Excellence final on Friday 6 November.

The regional awards, run by Constructing Excellence’s East of England club, recognise construction projects for collaboration, innovation, sustainability and social value. Market Place had already taken the same category at the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Constructing Excellence Club Awards in June, where it was also Highly Commended for Social Impact, and it was shortlisted this year for a Pineapple Award in the Child-Friendly Place category, the placemaking awards run by The Developer.

What was built, and by whom

The council’s own record of the project runs from appointment to opening:

  • 5 March 2025: the council appointed civil engineering contractor Henderson & Taylor, with work due to start in early spring and finish by the autumn.
  • 5 June 2025: the council confirmed construction had begun, with the contractor removing the old planters and walls “while carefully saving paving blocks for future use”. Businesses on the square stayed open throughout.
  • 26 September 2025: the Mayor, Lord Salisbury, MP Andrew Lewin and council leaders toured the finished square at a preview ahead of its public reopening.
Timeline of the Hatfield Market Place project from the contractor's appointment on 5 March 2025 to the national Constructing Excellence final on 6 November 2026
Key dates in the Market Place project, from the council's own announcements. Graphic by Welwyn Online.

The design, by dwg., turned what the council describes as an under-used and inaccessible corner of the town centre, “previously affected by antisocial behaviour and poor accessibility”, into a single-level space. Its centrepiece is a play area on a gently sloped surface so that wheelchair users can reach the trampoline, nest swing, roundabout and play tower. Pupils from a local special school tested the equipment on a “day of play” and their feedback shaped the final layout; a time capsule marks their part in it.

The sustainability claims the judges weighed are specific: 94% of the existing block paving was reused, timber logs were turned into wildlife habitats, and the new planting delivered a 10% net gain in biodiversity while keeping the mature trees. The scheme was paid for from Welwyn Hatfield’s allocation of the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. None of the council’s announcements gives a total cost for the project, and we have not found one in the council’s published capital monitoring; we will add it if the council publishes it.

Councillor Rose Grewal, the council’s Leader, said of the latest award: “I am thrilled by the recognition our Market Place project has received since its completion last year. This latest award highlights its success.”

What it means for you

If you use the town centre: Market Place is the latest completed piece of the council’s Hatfield town centre programme, after the earlier White Lion Square and One Town Centre schemes. The play area is a public one, and the level central space is laid out for markets and community events. The wider regeneration programme is set out on the council’s Hatfield 2030+ pages, and any planning applications that follow from it will show up on our Welwyn Hatfield planning news page.

If you follow the awards: the national Constructing Excellence Awards take place on Friday 6 November. Market Place will be one of the regional winners competing in Regeneration and Conservation. The council’s Ludwick Green scheme in Welwyn Garden City, 14 one-bedroom social housing flats built for low energy bills, was Highly Commended for Residential Project of the Year at the same June regional awards, so the borough has form this year.

If you care about how the money was spent: the Shared Prosperity Fund is a government grant rather than council tax, so the square was not paid for from the borough’s own capital programme beyond fees. What it cost in total has not been published; we will report the outturn if the council’s accounts show it.