Entries in the online Wildlife Design Competition saw people from across the globe – from New York to North Yorkshire, via Seoul, Milan, Rotterdam, Petrovaradin and Mumbai – conjure up innovative habitats for creatures such as bats, bees, birds and otters living thousands of miles away in Yorkshire's unofficial capital city.

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But aside from the US entry, the talented designers who made the eight-strong shortlist came from closer to home, with one from Leeds itself, one from Todmorden, four from London and one from Lincolnshire.

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The winner, who will be announced on May 28, will see his or her vision turned into reality and installed in Holbeck Urban Village ready for local critters to move in.

Judge Pippa Hale, director of the Northern Art Prize and co-director of PSL – Project Space Leeds – said proposals ranged from the weird and wonderful to the wildly ambitious and sometimes impractical.

She said: "The brief was quite broad, to encourage people to be as creative and imaginative as possible.

"That's certainly what came through with the proposals we received."
She said she was pleased with the influx of entries from overseas, demonstrating how we now live in a global society.

Some entrants focused on creating a "des-res" for one particular species whereas others devised habitats that could be shared by several different creatures.

The shortlisted designs include giant terracotta leaves for insects and birds; a haven for butterflies which interacts with local climatic conditions; housing for sparrows which clip on to lampposts and a boat for bats.

The judging took place at Granary Wharf, beside the canal and in the heart of Holbeck Urban Village, where they were able to see how the designs would fit in with the local environment.

Holbeck Urban Village is the focus of a multi-million pound regeneration programme, a partnership between Leeds City Council and Yorkshire Forward.

The competition, organised by Holbeck Urban Village and supported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, aimed to attract artists, architects and designers to help address the issue of dwindling wildlife in the city.

The announcement of the winner will kickstart a weekend of urban gardening events. A prototype of the winning design will be unveiled and there will be a trail of the shortlisted entries.