Sheffield's best buildings rewarded at event

Prizes were awarded in eight categories at the Sheffield Design Awards held at the Sheffield Institute of Arts in Fitzalan Square on October 26.

Jamie Wilde, aged 28, awards project manager, said: “There is a lot of talent in the city and this is represented by the great array of projects. We had a wide range of different sectors who took home awards, from community schemes to the council and residential projects.”

The Outstanding Project of the Year Award went to Sheffield Council for their £3.5m Grey to Green project, in which unused areas of the Riverside Business District was transformed into a display of public art with colourful flower beds, trees and benches. The scheme also took home the Contribution to Open Spaces Award. Residential development 81 Slinn Street in Crookes by Thread Architects and Birkett Cole Lowe Architects was also a double winner, receiving the Conservation Award and Housing/Residential Award.

There were also celebrations for the Foodhall Project, a community-run ‘pay as you feel’ cafe, which won the Small Project Award and People’s Choice Award. The Best Building Award went to Blackburn Meadows Biomass by BDP and the Keith Hayman Award was handed to Martin Jennings for the Women of Steel statue, honouring women’s role in keeping the munitions factories running during the two world wars. The awards are a biennial event run by Sheffield Civic Trust, Sheffield Society of Architects, Integreat Plus and RIBA Yorkshire, to celebrate the best in architecture.