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The 2011 winners of the CNU’s (Congress for the New Urbanism) annual Charter Awards have been announced, and among the winners under the category of The Block, Street and Building is Saint Anne’s Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

This project was designed by WDR & RT Taggart, a Belfast-based multi-disciplinary practice involved in construction design and consultancy. Among the partners is John Smylie, Member of INTBAU’s College of Traditional Practitioners since 2004.

Saint Anne’s Square is located in Belfast’s historic Cathedral Quarter, which is a designated Conservation Area. It is a mixed-use development with a new public square surrounded by cafes, restaurants and hotel. Above ground level are offices, apartments, a gymnasium, and hotel bedrooms.

Construction was completed in January 2010, with an arts centre to be added by the autumn of 2011. Public response to the project has been very positive.

The CNU Charter Award is the fourth major award that the project has won, after the Irish Property Award for Northern Ireland's ‘Best Residential Development of the Year’; the ‘Best Urban Regeneration Award’ at the Belfast Business Awards 2010 for innovation, sustainability and design excellence; and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' Award for ‘Best Regeneration Project in Northern Ireland 2010’. Saint Anne’s Square was also featured in the new international publication, The New Palladians, a book featuring examples of some of the best classical architecture projects in the world today, and was recently chosen as ‘Project of the Month’ by AVOE (A Vision of Europe).