Building writers won five awards at last week’s International Building Press Journalism Awards ceremony in central London.

Mark Leftly, the features editor, scooped the Construction Journalist of the Year award, news editor George Hay took the prize for Feature Writer of the Year, Housing editor Josephine Smit was named Housing Journalist of the Year and Martin Spring, the architectural editor, was Architectural Journalist of the Year.

The former deputy editor of the magazine, Phil Clark, took the award for News Reporter of the Year for his work on Building.

The judges complimented Leftly on his “refreshing” writing style and said of Hay: “He walks an astute path through the politics of the construction industry. This gives him an edge over the competition.”

The judges said of Smit that they had been “impressed by the wide variety of topics and her willingness to address the big issues”, and praised Spring’s “pertinent choice of topics” and “highly professional, clear and readable style”.

The awards were presented by Luke Johnson, chairman of Channel 4 Television Corporation, in front of a 600-strong audience at the Four Seasons Hotel.