MODERN buildings in a regeneration zone have been crowned the North-East’s best new developments.

Boho One and Bohouse in Middlesbrough beat stiff competition from Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead and Stockton to become the overall winners in the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Regional Awards 2011.

The complexes in St Hilda’s, home to the town’s Digital City project where digital media businesses and creative entrepreneurs live and work, have been dubbed Middlesbrough’s answer to London’s Soho.

Both projects were designed by Xsite architecture, drawing on the Masterplan for Greater Middlehaven, by Alsop Architects for Tees Valley Regeneration, Middlesbrough Council and English Partnerships.

Judges praised their sustainablity, with Boho One using a ground sourceheat pump and wind turbines.

“The schemes both have a regional significance as sustainable business initiatives, helping to make the Boho Zone and Greater Middlehaven a leading example of good practice for regeneration professionals to visit,” the panel added.

Mark Elliott, chief executive of DigitalCity Business, said: “The buildings are fantastic and it is great to be leading the field in this way and gaining recognition for DigitalCity as an innovator.

“Of course, my favourite thing about Boho One is the people inside of it who are the life blood of DigitalCity and bring the bricks and mortar to life.

“The building is a great place for energetic, thinking businesses to be based it has exactly what is needed to facilitate creativity, innovation and success.”

The RTPI awards recognise, celebrate and publicise good planning practice in the North-East. The judges considered ten entries, one less than last year.

Royal Town Planning Institute Regional Awards Regional Award Winner 2011: Boho One and Bohouse, Middlesbrough Winner of the 2011 Chair’s award for the entry that best celebrates the principles of good urgan design: St Nicholas Square, Newcastle Commendations: The Courtyard and Hay Barn housing developments at Eaglescliffe, Stockton, Durham Road Eco Homes, Gateshead, Sunderland Seafront Regeneration Project.

Other entries considered: Temenos, Middlesbrough, Residential Design Supplementary Planning Document, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council; Jubilee Court, in Kenton, Newcastle, The Heritage Strategy, Stockton Borough Council, and St Andrew’s Way, Eldon Square, Newcastle.