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Leeds: Architecture award judges pick their top buildings
Hundreds of votes came flooding in – and now, there are just weeks to go until we reveal the winner of our search for Leeds's Favourite Building.
The result will be announced at the Leeds Architecture Awards, where a host of top architects will gather to celebrate the city's iconic buildings.
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As part of the competition, we asked readers to tell us about their favourite building in Leeds, before creating a shortlist and holding a public vote.
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The winner has already been decided – but today, we can reveal what the Leeds Architecture Awards judges would have chosen as their number one.
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The panel, including Castleford Bridge designer Renato Benedetti, toured the city as part of the prestigious awards, which will be held on January 28.
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Leeds City Council's civic architect John Thorp, one of the judges, said he would have picked the Corn Exchange to win the YEP's title.
He said: "It is such an original and timeless architectural idea, a remarkable piece of structural engineering and is very sustainable."
Architect Andrew Latchmore, partner at Shulmans, agreed. He said: "The one that gives me the most delight is the Corn Exchange.
"There is something about its scale and elegance which I believe is timeless. Behind that I would put Leeds Town Hall for its grandeur and Leeds Metropolitan University's Broadcasting Place, which I think is an outstanding and uplifting modern building."
Fellow judge Richard Taylor, conservation team leader of Leeds City Council's sustainable development unit, said: "My favourite has to be the grade one-listed Temple Works. Not only is its Egyptian appearance astounding, but so is its construction.
"A two-acre flat-roofed building supported on slender columns with its roof formerly covered in grass is astonishing enough today. Think what it must have been to our Victorian predecessors. A real green building years ahead of its time."
Peter Rice added: "I love the new Broadcasting Place building, and as a practicing architect I appreciate its contemporary nature.
"But for sheer unadulterated joy and sensual delight its the Grand Theatre that gets my vote."
The shortlisted buildings in the YEP's competition are as follows: Leeds Town Hall; Leeds Grand Theatre; Leeds Civic Hall; Leeds Bridge House; Leeds Cathedral; Leeds Metropolitan University's Faculty of Arts and Society; Corn Exchange; Hinsley Hall; Temple Works; Quarry House.
Hundreds of readers voted for their number one, with the winner set to share a stage with the other successes of the Leeds Architecture Awards.
This year's awards include a new category called Temporary Works, which recognises the temporary use of vacant spaces, such as Green in the City at Wellington Place and Wonderwood at Holbeck Urban Village.
The other categories are: New Building, Altered Building, Conserved Building and Public Realm and Landscape Design.
Most the shortlisted projects were completed between January 1, 2007 and the closing date for nominations in September 2009.
The awards are jointly promoted by Leeds City Council and the Leeds Chamber Property Forum, in association with the Leeds Society of Architects, the Landscape Institute, the Institute of Historic Building Conservation and Leeds Civic Trust.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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