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Nine of Sheffield’s new buildings and property schemes have been shortlisted in the 2011 RICS Pro-Yorkshire Awards.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors received 69 entries for the awards, which are regarded as the region’s property Oscars.

After initial judging, 56 entries have made the shortlist and are now in with a chance of winning one of the nine awards which are presented annually to the region’s most inspirational initiatives in the property and construction sectors.

The nine short-listed schemes in Sheffield are: Western Bank Library, The Chimney House, the refurbishment of the Crucible Theatre, 2 St Paul’s Place, Sheffield Digital Campus (Building 2 and Electric Works), Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, The Soundhouse, Norfolk Park and the new sustainable housing for Urban Regeneration.

Chairman of the RICS Yorkshire and Humberside judging panel Colin Harrop, said: “The awards are an excellent showcase for the importance of good design and inspiring construction in people’s lives.

“Great buildings really do make a difference to our home, work and private lives.”

Mr Harrop, who is also a Senior Associate at King Sturge in Leeds, added: “The RICS Pro-Yorkshire Awards also present an ideal opportunity to shout about the exemplary developments in land, property and construction in the Yorkshire region, as well as the resilience and talent of our property and construction professionals.

“We were delighted to receive such a high number of entries – one of the highest in the country – having suffered some challenging economic conditions in recent years.

“On the other hand, with some many great schemes around it has made the short-listing process particularly tough this year.”

There are eight award categories – Building Conservation, Commercial, Community Benefit, Design & Innovation, Regeneration, Residential, Sustainability and Tourism & Leisure – and the prestigious accolade ‘Project of the Year’ is awarded to the entry judged to have scored the highest across all categories.

Each year the regional winners in four of the categories (Building Conservation, Sustainability, Community Benefit and Regeneration) are automatically entered into the national RICS Awards, where they compete against other leading projects from across the UK.

Judging of the Pro-Yorkshire short-listed entries is now underway and the winners will be announced at an awards dinner on May 20 at The Pavilion, Elland Road, in Leeds.

Published on Thursday 24 March 2011 Sheffield Telegraph