Member Article

The hunt is on for Yorkshire’s finest property projects

A search for the most innovative property and construction schemes in Yorkshire and Humber got underway yesterday, with the launch of the 2014 RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Pro-Yorkshire Awards.

The annual awards celebrate the region’s most inspirational built initiatives and developments and are regarded as the region’s property ‘Oscars’.

An impressive line up of Yorkshire’s most prominent property professionals assembled for the launch, at La Tasca in Leeds, for advice and tips on what the judges are looking for in each of the eight categories and how they can make their nomination stand out.

The City of York Council’s new Headquarters - West Offices - was the star of this year’s Awards, held in April. After winning in three out of the eight categories - Building Conservation, Commercial property and Design & Innovation – it was crowned the overall ‘Project of the Year.’

Chairman of the RICS Pro-Yorkshire Awards judging panel, Colin Harrop, director at Jones Lang LaSalle in Leeds said: “The high volume of quality entries for the 2013 Awards is testament to the talented property professionals in our region that continue to produce many exceptional built schemes, despite the uncertain climate.”

“Over this past year alone, there have been many exemplary property schemes built in the region, which are certainly worthy of the recognition that winning an RICS Award can bring, so hopefully we will see a rise in the number of nominations received.”

The eight categories are: Regeneration, Community Benefit, Building Conservation, Design through Innovation, Commercial property, Residential property, Infrastructure, and Tourism & Leisure. The Project of the Year is the entry judged to have scored the highest across all categories.

Winners in Building Conservation, Design through Innovation, Community Benefit and Regeneration will go on to compete against other regional winners in the national RICS Awards for the chance to be crowned the overall winner in their respective categories.

The Yorkshire and Humber 2013 winning schemes that will compete in the national RICS Awards, on 18th October at the Strand in London, are: City of York Council’s West Offices, (Building Conservation and Design & Innovation), Barnsley College’s Old Mill Lane Campus (Community Benefit) and 1884 Dock Street Kitchen, Hull (Regeneration).

Colin Harrop added: “In the uncertain climate, it’s important that we continue to raise the profile of the region, not to mention the talent of our local property professionals.”

The deadline for entries for the 2014 RICS Pro-Yorkshire Awards is 17th January. For information and an entry form, contact awards co-ordinator, Claire Simmons on 0191 2211039 or csimmons@rics.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .