Student housing, a budget hotel, and a commercial seaside development are all in the running for this year's Carbuncle Cup.
The award is held each year in recognition of Britain's ugliest building projects.
Among the nominations is Castle Mill Housing, a graduate accommodation block built on the edge of ancient grazing land in Oxford.
The five-storey blocks overlook a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
It was described by one nominator as a building of "impoverished" design that would "lower the spirit whatever its setting".
The scheme has managed to notch up the highest number of nominations in the award's eight year history.
It faces competition from another modern student accommodation block, 465 Caledonian Road, which has been clunkily attached to the facade of the Georgian terrace that originally stood on the site.
Other nominations for Building Design Magazine's annual award include the Port Eirias Watersports Center in Colwyn Bay, Wales, known to locals as 'the dumpster', and the £1.6m helter skelter-inspired Redcar Beacon.
Premier Inn, Lambeth, described by BD as "lumpen", and the Avant Garde apartment block, on Bethnal Green Road, London, complete the shortlist.
The winner will be announced on 30 August.
