Three developments have been selected as winners and a fourth highly commended in the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) EMEA Awards for Excellence competition.

The three winning developments are ENER[GIE]NGER in Munich, Germany; Perseo in Milan, Italy; and The Triangle Building at Wolverton Park in Milton Keynes, UK. KAUST, the King Abdullah University in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, was highly commended in the awards.

The winners were announced during the ULI Europe Trends Conference in Amsterdam, the Institute’s half-yearly review of trends in the European real estate industry.

ENER[GIE]NGER is a 2,600 m2 office and retail scheme developed by Wilhelm Gienger VerwaltungsGmbH which opened in 2009. It is based on the idea of an ‘energy spiral’ which allows light to move inside the building. The development places great importance on sustainability with a 250 m2 solar panel and a combined heat-and-power plant for electro and thermal energy.

Perseo is a 16,000 m2 office development built in the Expo 2015 district of Milan on a previously undeveloped site. Developed by Galotti and leased entirely to Sole 24 ore, it is the first Triple A standard building in Italy.

Wolverton Park is a former railway just outside Milton Keynes which has been redeveloped to provide 300 mixed tenure homes, alongside commercial space, community facilities and a 2.5-acre park. The project developer was Places for People.

Jury chair Andrew Gould, chief executive of the English business at Jones Lang LaSalle, said the 2011 winners demonstrate holistic urban design and sustainability principles. ‘They represent some examples of tremendous innovation and thoughtful approaches to urban design and regeneration in retail, office, mixed-use, as well as education and civic uses.’

The four winners qualify for the ULI Global Awards for Excellence competition, in which a jury of international members will select up to five winners from this year’s winning projects in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. The global winners will be announced in Los Angeles at the ULI Fall Meeting and Urban Land Expo in October.

The competition is part of the Institute’s Awards for Excellence programme, established in 1979, which is based on ULI’s guiding principle that the achievement of excellence in land use practice should be recognised and rewarded. The criteria for the awards include leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial viability.