The awards celebrate outstanding projects in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, while taking into account the whole process, from planning and construction to economic viability, management, community impact and design.

This year’s finalists include mixed-use, offices, and arts & culture projects, with a strong focus on sustainability, reuse, repurposing and placemaking and community building.

The overall winners will be revealed on October 12 as part of ULI Europe’s Decarbonisation Summit.

Marnix Galle, chair of ULI Europe said: ‘Best practice in equitable and sustainable land use is at the heart of our mission, and we believe that examples of this in practice should be both recognised and celebrated.'

Sophie Henley-Price, chair of the 2022 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence Jury, commented: ‘We’ve selected five finalists, all of which demonstrate genuine ingenuity in real estate and in their respective categories.’

Lisette van Doorn, ULI Europe CEO, added: ‘This year, the standard and variety of entries has once again been exceptional. The range of truly innovative real estate development projects that are being delivered in many parts of Europe provides a wealth of best practice examples and creative solutions that I think we can collectively benefit from when considering future development opportunities, and certainly such great work demands to be showcased in this way.’

Kicking off the list in alphabetical order is the Hammerbrooklyn Digital Pavilion, a sustainable digital hub and smart office building, in Hamburg, Germany (developer: Art-Invest Real Estate Management; owner: Hammerbrooklyn Immobilien; and architect: LP Spine Architects).

The second is Latitude, a remodelled an extended 1970s office building in Courbevoie near Paris, France (developer and owner: Generale Continentale Investissements; architect: Studios Architecture).

On the list is MÉCA (Maison de l’Economie Creatives et de la Culture en Aquitaine), a centre for contemporary art that brings together three institutions in Bordeaux, France (developer and owner: Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine; architects: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group; FREAKS freearchitects; Lafourcade-Rouquette Architectes).

Also nominated is the Norblin Factory, a multifunctional complex of state-of-the-art offices plus cultural, leisure and retail offerings, located in Warsaw, Poland (developer and owner: Capital Park Group; architect: PRC Architekci).

Finally, the Quai des Caps mixed-use complex is located in the regenerated seaport area in Bordeaux, France (developer: Fayat Immobilier & Pitch Promotion; owner: Keys REIM, Caisse des depots; and architects: Chartier Dalix, Hardel et Le Bihan, Moon Safari et Marjan Hessamfar & Joe Verons, and Jacques Ferrier).

The jury is composed of recognised real estate leaders drawn from across the sector, including architecture, commercial real estate, development, investment, property management, public-private partnership, and professional services.

The jury will also consider ‘special mentions’ for projects that demonstrate excellence in a particular area such as affordable housing, social value, climate change/resilience/sustainability, life sciences, repurposing, creative placemaking/arts & culture/community engagement, health and wellbeing, and smart technology.