Dartford Judo Club, The Maggie’s Centre at Kirkcaldy, Fife, the Urban Oasis in Birmingham, The Museum of Liverpool and new The Young Vic Theatre in London are among ten buildings in the UK competing to win a prestigious LEAF Award, one of the highest accolades in the architectural and design sector.
 
Zaha Hadid and Make are among the British architects and designers with projects on the shortlist along with international names such as SOM and Woods Bagot (see full shortlists below).
 
There were, in total, nearly 150 entries from 33 countries for the Awards which cover 11 different categories. Among the international projects on the shortlist are the Levent Loft in Istanbul, Turkey; the Watercube in Beijing, China; MobileLife Campus in Wolfsburg, Germany and the Setre Chapel in Kobe, Japan.
 
Now in its fourth year, the LEAF Awards recognise and reward excellence within the architectural and design fields with architects from all over the world eligible to enter. Former winners have included: America’s Cup Foredeck Building, Valencia, Spain; The Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Canada and The Green Building, Manchester, UK.
 
This year the highly competitive Awards have attracted a record number of entries, all of an exceptional standard, resulting in a high calibre finalist list for the Awards Night. 
 
Winners will be announced at a black-tie dinner on 29 November 2007 at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London hosted by Maxwell Hutchinson, a past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and renowned architect and TV and radio broadcaster.  With more than 300 leading industry figures set to attend, it promises to be the social and networking highlight of the architectural calendar.
 
Peter Murray, Chairman of the judges for the LEAF Awards, Chairman of Wordsearch and founding director of the London Architecture Biennale said: “These prestigious architectural awards figure highly in the architectural calendar. They not only recognise the impact but also the innovation and practical development that has gone into the thinking behind these cutting edge buildings.”

“The standard of entries for this year’s Awards has been exceptionally high and provided us with a very difficult decision in selecting a shortlist. This year’s finalists cover a truly international geographical spread and include large and smaller projects by both well-known and up and coming architects and designers.”
 
Simona Kastly, Project Director for the LEAF Awards, said, “With this exciting shortlist, the glamorous Awards Dinner promises to be an evening not to be missed.”
 
The finalists are:

THE LEAF NEW BUILD OF THE YEAR (BUILT)
• Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Germany – Ben van  Berkel/UNStudio
• The Maggie’s Centre, Fife Scotland – Zaha Hadid Architects  
• The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA – Steven Holl  Architects
• School for Art and Art History, Iowa, USA  - Steven Holl  Architects
• New British Embassy, Sana’a, Yemen - Design Engine Architects  
• Setre Chapel, Kobe, Japan - Ryuichi Ashizawa Architects &  Associates

THE LEAF NEW BUILD OF THE YEAR (IN DESIGN)
Sponsored by Vogue UK
• SCA, Scala Tower, Denmark, Copenhagen - Bjarke Ingels Group  
• REN, People’s Building, Shanghai, China  - Bjarke Ingels Group  
• MTN, The Mountain Dwellings, Copenhagen, Denmark - Bjarke Ingels  Group
• Levent LOFT, Istanbul Turkey - Tabanlioglu  Architecture
• ARB Bank, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Gary Haney, Skidmore, Owings &  Merill
• Al Hamra Firdous Tower, Kuwait City, Kuwait - Gary Haney, Skidmore,  Owings & Merill
• Porsche Design Tower I & II, Dubai, UAE – Office for  Metropolitan Architecture

 
THE LEAF PUBLIC BUILDING OF THE YEAR (BUILT)
• Dartford Judo Club, Dartford, England – Make  Architects
• Mobile Life Campus, Wolfsburg, Germany – Henn  Architekten
• Chocolate Museum, Toluca, Mexico – Michel  Rojkind
• Lohring Underground Station, Bochum Germany – Rubsamen &  Partner. Architekten BDA Ingenieure
• Young Vic Theatre, London, England – Haworth Tompkins  (Architects)

THE LEAF PUBLIC BUILDING OF THE YEAR (IN DESIGN)
Sponsored by RAK Ceramics
• Museum of Liverpool, Liverpool, England – 3XN  Architects
• Watercube, National Swimming Centre, Beijing, China –, PTW  Architects
• Corby Hub – Hawkins/Brown, Corby UK
• St Paul’s Information Centre, London, England – Make  Architects
• Chethams School of Music, Manchester, UK – Stephenson Bell  Architects

THE LEAF STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF THE YEAR
• Opus, Dubai,UAE – Omniyat Properties
• Damac Heights, Dubai UAE – Damac  Properties
• Kensington Oval, Kensington Barbados – Arup  Associates

THE LEAF INTERNATIONAL INTERIOR DESIGN AWARD
Sponsored by Sikkens
• Home Coulture, Berlin, Germany – Franken  Architekten
• Cosmogril, Munich, Germany - Franken  Architekten
• Restaurante Arola, Madrid, Spain – Vidal y asociados  Arquitectos
• Unilever House, London, UK – Kohn Pedersen Fox associates  International
• Multifaith Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada –  Moriyama & Teshima Architects
• Qantas First Lounge, Sydney, Australia – Woods  Bagot

THE BEST USE OF TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Sponsored by Hewlett Packard
• Loyola Information Commons and Digital Library, Chicago, USA –  Solomon Cordwell Buenz
• Urban Oasis, Birmingham, UK –  Chetwoods

THE BEST MATERIAL SUPPLIER TO THE ARCHITECTURAL INDUSTRY AWARD
• Challenor Pavillion (Kensington Oval), Kensington, Barbados – EDM  Spanwall Facades Ltd
• Sir John Lyon House, London, UK – EH  Smith

THE BEST ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Electrolux
• City Central Tower 1, Adelaide, Australia – Woods  Bagot
• New British Embassy, Sana’a Yemen – Design Engine  Architects

THE LEAF YOUNG ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Hill McGlynn
• Ribera del Duero Wine HQ, Burgos, Spain – Estudio Barozzi Veiga  SL
• House on the Outskirts of Cairo, Mansoureya, Egypt – Shahira H.  Fahmy Architects
• Pyramids Heights Compound (A Villa), Giza plateau, Egypt - Shahira  H. Fahmy Architects

For more information visit www.leaf-awards.com

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