NEW school and university buildings and a museum were named the winners in awards celebrating the best new architecture in the Solent region.

The winners of the 2014 Solent Design Awards were announced at a glitzy awards ceremony at Portsmouth’s Mary Rose Museum.

The Mary Rose Museum, Ryde School and the University of Winchester’s St Alphege Building scooped the top accolades at the awards.

New council offices at Eastleigh House, the University of Winchester’s Burma Road Student Village, the new public square and civic buildings in The Gateway, Ringwood, and the housing development at St Valentine’s Close, Winchester, had completed the shortlist.

A panel of judges including architects, lecturers and design experts named the St Alphege Building as the winner of the new Urban Design Award.

Panel chairman Lisa Jackson said: “St Alphege demonstrates how a single building can contribute positively to a sense of place by respecting its neighbouring buildings and creating enclosure of a reclaimed piece of public realm.”

They chose Ryde School’s new entrance building as the winner of the Quality Places Award, saying it was “a bold approach to the listed building and conservation area, creating a timeless addition to the school of exceptional clarity and rigour, executed with intelligence and honesty”.

And the spectacular Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard won the People’s Choice Award, voted for by the public.

The awards were organised by the Partnership for South Urban Hampshire (PUSH), and PUSH chairman Seán Woodward said: “Our initial aim in setting up these awards was to encourage the creation of excellent places and spaces for our local community in which to live and work.

“Good design can make great places and all these buildings underline this.

"I applaud all three winners.”