Over 50 applications were submitted to the Leeds Architecture Awards 2023 and the shortlist of 15 projects has been revealed.
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00:00 I'm Martin Hamilton, I'm Director of Leeds Civic Trust and we're standing here just outside the bus station
00:06 looking on to the Playhouse and Playhouse Gardens, so looking over to Quarry Hill.
00:11 This year we're holding Leeds Architecture Awards 2023.
00:15 Five years ago, since we last held an awards ceremony to celebrate the best architecture in the city,
00:20 Covid meant that we couldn't do one during, you know, so it's taken us five years to get to where we are today.
00:26 We had a huge amount of interest in the scheme, over 50 entries, shortlisted down to 15.
00:31 The awards ceremony takes place in November, 1st of November at the Howard Assembly Room.
00:37 The city has changed an awful lot in the last five years and continues to change.
00:41 So we've seen a lot of entries, particularly in the city centre, office schemes, residential schemes,
00:47 a number of cultural schemes, but also schemes outside of the city centre,
00:50 so the shortlist reflects both what's happening and what's been happening over the last few years in the city centre,
00:55 but also some really interesting projects that are outside the city centre.
00:59 I think it does reflect the amount of work going on, that has been going on in the last few years in Leeds.
01:06 Not just new build of course, because a big category is altered buildings,
01:10 buildings that were already there but have been repurposed or refurbished,
01:16 possibly for a new use or to make a better use of the existing use.
01:19 So it's a bit of old and new.
01:21 The Architecture Awards is actually a partnership between Leeds Civic Trust,
01:26 Leeds City Council, Leeds Society of Architects and REBA.
01:29 I think all four organisations are committed to the highest quality architecture.
01:34 So what this awards competition and ceremony ultimately will do is hopefully highlight
01:41 the best that Leeds can produce in terms of its built environment.
01:45 And of course, as we see buildings come up out of the ground,
01:49 we have a keen interest in the quality, not just how it looks from the outside,
01:54 but how it works for the people who use it on the inside.
01:56 So the awards is as much about the function of the buildings as how they look.
02:02 So that's a really important part of the assessment process.
02:06 And as I say, we have 15 entries now.
02:09 We will end up with five winners and one overall winner following the second stage of judging.
02:17 I think what we found when we received all the submissions, well over 50 submissions,
02:24 is that none of those submissions were what you would call duds.
02:28 I mean, they were all good applications.
02:31 So what we've ended up with in the shortlist are the cream of the crop,
02:36 but the crop was actually pretty good to start with.
02:38 And I think that's an important thing to say.
02:40 So, you know, we see lots of cranes around Leeds at the moment,
02:45 buildings that are coming up out of the ground.
02:47 You know, ultimately, those will be the schemes that come forward in two years' time
02:52 when we run the competition again.
02:54 What this is about is saying, well, what have we seen over the last five years
02:58 and what do we think is worth celebrating?
02:59 But I think there'll be more to celebrate in the years to come.