The 5th International LafargeHolcim Awards competition is now open for submissions. Organized by the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, the competition seeks projects at an advanced stage of design from the fields of architecture, building and civil engineering; landscape and urban design; as well as materials, products and construction technologies. The Awards also feature a Next Generation category for visions and ideas of young professionals and students.
The main category of the competition is open to architects, planners, engineers, project owners, builders and construction firms showcasing sustainable responses within contemporary building and construction. Projects must have reached an advanced stage of design, have a high probability of execution, and may not have started construction before July 4, 2016.
In addition, students and professionals up to the age of 30 years may submit visionary concepts, bold ideas and “blue-sky” solutions in the Next Generation category of the competition, irrespective of the probability of implementation of the project.
Submissions are evaluated against five “target issues” for sustainable construction. They take a holistic view at sustainability and cover innovation and transferability; ethical standards and social inclusion; resource and environmental performance; economic viability and compatibility; and contextual and aesthetic impact.
The competition takes place in parallel across five geographic regions – each with its own jury of renowned and independent specialists. The University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) will host the North American jury. “We are honoured to host the North American regional jury of the largest global design competition so closely aligned with the design and sustainability leadership values at the core of our School,” said SALA Director Ron Kellett. “LafargeHolcim Foundation has chosen only SALA and MIT as its partners in North America, which demonstrates the calibre of academic rigour applied to the Awards.”
The Head of the jury will be SALA faculty member Dr. Ray Cole, Professor of Architecture and former Director of SALA. Dr. Cole has been a distinguished, award winning teacher, researcher and thought leader in environmental issues in architectural design and education for the past 40 years. He is a former Director of the Canada Green Building Council and academic director of UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, an academic research group directed to accelerating the adoption of sustainable building technologies and urban development practices in society.
Mr. Cole will be joined by an esteemed group of leaders in the architecture and academic communities including:
- Kevin Daly, Founder, Kevin Daly Architects, USA
- Paul Fast, Founder and Partner, Fast & Epp, Canada
- Jeanne Gang, Founding Principal, Studio Gang, USA
- Harry Gugger, Professor, Architectural & Urban Design, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland
- Forrest Meggers, Assistant Professor, Princeton University School of Architecture, USA
- Jennifer Wolch, Dean & Professor, College of Environmental Design, University of California-Berkeley, USA
- Marc Angélil, Professor of Architecture & Design, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland
Past Canadian winners include Greening the Infrastructure at Benny Farm in Montreal by L’OEUF (Global Awards, 2006, Bronze); Material Reduction: Efficient Fabric-Formed Concrete in Winnipeg by the University of Manitoba (Regional Awards, 2005, Bronze); Library and Classroom Building at Langara College in Vancouver by Teeple Architects (Regional Awards, 2005, Acknowledgement Prize); Millenium Biologix Headquarters in Kingston by Behnisch & Partner (Regional Awards, 2005, Acknowledgement Prize); and more.
The winners of this year’s competition will be announced in the second half of 2017 at Awards ceremonies in each region. The main winners automatically qualify for the global LafargeHolcim Awards competition in 2018. The total prize money of the 5th International LafargeHolcim Awards cycle amounts to USD 2 million.
Entry is free and closes on March 21, 2017. For more information, please click here.