THE 2020 York Design Awards - the search for York’s best buildings, developed or renovated in the last three years - have been launched.

The annual awards programme celebrates and rewards good design in the city.

The awards are free to enter and property developers, housebuilders, architects, building owners and private homeowners can enter their projects for independent scrutiny by some of the country’s top architects and property experts.

The official launch event took place at St Peter’s School, which has previously won two York Design Awards.

The event’s guest speaker was Annalie Riches, founding director of Mikhail Riches Architects, which has been appointed by City of York Council to create more than 400 highly energy-efficient Passivhaus-standard homes in the next five years.

She explained how lessons learned from the creation of Stirling Prize award-winning council housing in Norwich will be applied to the new homes in York.

Full details on the categories and how to enter the prestigious awards, are available at www.yorkdesignawards.org.

Winners will be announced and presented with their awards at the awards evening which takes place on Monday, June 15, at the Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens.