Holcim recognizes sustainable projects in North America and around the globe

SWITZERLAND—The Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction global winners, showcasing cutting edge approaches to sustainable design, green architecture and materials innovation, were presented recently.

In the sixth competition cycle, the focus of the entries in the North America region was the sustainable improvement of quality of life, states a release. The global prizes were presented at a handover ceremony at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. The regional Holcim Awards Main category winners for North America were recognized at the same event. 

The Holcim Awards competition is conducted in two phases.

In the first phase, independent juries of international experts evaluate the project entries in the competition regions Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East Africa and Asia Pacific. The decisive factor is the holistic approach to sustainability, which in the context of the Holcim Awards, is based on five pillars: progress, people, planet, prosperity and place.

The prizewinning projects automatically qualify for the second phase of the competition, the Global Holcim Awards, in which the entries are evaluated by a global jury.

Participants were invited to submit additional material on their projects, including detailed information on the carbon footprint of their project over its entire life cycle and its contribution to the circular economy, adds the release. Thirty-three projects were qualified for the Global Holcim Awards and the jury ultimately decided on four winners, carrying total prize of US$350,000 and four non-monetary commendations.

Winners of the sixth Holcim Awards Main category prizes North America include:

• Gold North America (US$100,000): House as Garden in Illinois. A self-sustaining and collaborative residential project in Chicago. Winner: Michael Sorkin (1948–2020), Michael Sorkin Studio, New York.
• Silver North America (US$50,000): Indigenous Wellness in Yellowknife, Canada. A holistic health care and cultural centre in the Northwest Territories.

Winners: Mason White, Lola Sheppard and team, Lateral Office, Toronto and Wilbert Cook, Nicole Redvers and team, Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, Yellowknife.

• Bronze North America (US$30,000): Emerald Gateway in Massachusetts. A symbiotic mending of an urban green-infrastructure belt in Boston. Winners: Marie Law Adams and Daniel Adams, Landing Studio, Boston.
• Acknowledgement prize North America (US$20,000): Hydroculus Cooling in Arizona. A clever and efficient mechanism for indoor climate control. Winners: Forrest Meggers, Princeton University, N.J.; Dorit Aviv, University of Pennsylvania; and Aletheia Ida, University of Arizona.
• Acknowledgement prize North America (US$20,000): (Re)constructed Block in Michigan. A sustainable live-work district in Detroit that closes the material cycle. 

Winners: Diane Van Buren Zachary and an international team of architects, Zachary and Associates, Detroit.

The global award winners include:

• Gold (US$150,000): Making new from old in Winterthur, Switzerland. Extending the Cycle: A building that is primarily constructed with salvaged materials. Winners: Marc Angst, Michèle Brand, Barbara Buser, Pascal Hentschel, Benjamin Poignon, Kerstin Müller, baubüro in situ, Basel, Switzerland.
• Silver (US$100,000): Symbiosis between humans and nature in Bogotá, Colombia. Wetland Vitality: A landscape design project for environmental recovery and social sustainability. Winners: Edgar Mazo, Sebastian Mejía and team, Connatural, Medellín, Colombia.
• Bronze ex aequo (US$50,000): Sustainable oasis upgrade in M’hammid El Ghizlane, Morocco. Cultural Interlude: A self-sustaining centre to preserve tribal cultural heritage. Winner: Aziza Chaouni, Aziza Chaouni Projects, Fez, Morocco and Canada.
• Bronze ex aequo (US$50,000): Reforestation program in Hanoi, Vietnam. Propagated Sanctuary: The cultivation of an urban forest and economic catalyst. Winners: Marek Obtulovic, Nguyen Duc Trung, Mai Lan Chi and team, ODDO Architects, Hanoi, Vietnam.
• Commendation: Clothing recycling in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan. Connective Threads: Shelters for refugees using upcycled textile waste. Winners: Azra Aksamija and the MIT Future Heritage Lab team, Cambridge, Mass.
• Commendation: Empowering the homeless in Minalin, Philippines. Empowering the Homeless: Sustainable social housing for homeless families. Winners: Prasoon Kumar and Robert Verrijt, Billion Bricks, India and Singapore.
• Commendation: Extreme sustainability in Sydney, Australia. High-Performance Tower: A new sustainability model pursuing low-energy and high-comfort performance. Winners: Wolfgang Kessling, Transsolar Energietechnik, Germany; Edwin Chan, EC3 Design, USA; James O’Callaghan, Eckersley O’Callaghan, United Kingdom; Corie D. Sharples and Andreia Taixeira, ShoP, USA; Ric Wang, Atlassian, Australia; Njnotschka Titchkosky, BVN, Australia.
• Commendation: Community rebuilding in Chã das Caldeiras, Cabo Verde. Rebuilding Erupts: A post-disaster community reactivation facility. Winners: Leão Lopes and team, M_EIA/Atelier Mar, São Vicente, Cabo Verde.

For more information visit www.holcimfoundation.org/awards.