The Holcim Foundation Awards for Sustainable Construction is an international competition that showcases projects that contribute to
sustainable
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
construction and the transformation of the building sector. A total of USD $1 million in prize money is awarded in each two-year cycle.
The competition was known as the Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction from 2004. Holcim Ltd and Lafarge S.A. completed their global merger and launched
LafargeHolcim
Holcim is a Swiss-based global building materials and aggregates flagship division of the Holcim Group. The original company was merged on 10 July 2015 with Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim as the new company and renamed to Holcim Group in 202 ...
in July 2015. The name of the foundation was changed to LafargeHolcim Foundation, and the competition became the LafargeHolcim Awards. Once the group dropped Lafarge from its name, the Foundation also adopted the new naming. For the 2025 competition, the name was changed to the Holcim Foundation Awards.
A global competition across five world regions
The Holcim Foundation Awards is a global competition awarded across five geographic areas: North America, Latin America, Middle East Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Entries in the competition are allocated to a region based on the location of the project.
Holcim Foundation Awards
Since 2023, there is only one category within the competition:
The Holcim Foundation Awards is open to architects, planners, engineers, and project owners that showcase sustainable responses to technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affective contemporary building and construction. Until the 6th cycle, the Next Generation category was open for students and young professionals not older than 30. The category was seeking visionary design concepts and bold ideas including design studio and research work.
Evaluation criteria
Submissions are evaluated by independent juries, using the Foundation's "four goals" to define sustainable construction: uplifting places, healthy planet, viable economics, and thriving communities.
Juries
The independent juries consist of experts from architecture, engineering, planning, and the construction industry.
The juries for 2025 will be chaired by
Sou Fujimoto
is a Japanese architect.
Born in Hokkaido in 1971, he graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1994, and established his own office, Sou Fujimoto Architects, in 2000. Noted for delicate light structures and permeable enclosures, Fujimoto desig ...
(Japan),
Kjetil Thorsen (Europe), Sandra Barclay (Latin America),
Lina Ghotmeh
Lina Ghotmeh (born 2 July 1980) is a Lebanese-born architect and founder of Lina Ghotmeh Architecture in Paris. Raised in Beirut, her work emphasizes sustainability, history, and materiality, integrating traditional techniques with contemporary de ...
(Middle East & Africa) and
Jeanne Gang
Jeanne Gang (born March 19, 1964) is an American architect and the founder and leader of Studio Gang (established in 1997), an architecture and urban design practice with offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris. She is known for ...
(North America).
["Holcim Foundation Awards with USD $1M prize pool." ''Architecture & Design''. Retrieved 18 October 2024, from https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/holcim/holcim-foundation-awards-with-us$1m-prize-pool]
Prizes
The total prize money for each cycle of the Holcim Foundation Awards competition is US$1 million.
References
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External links
Holcim Foundation Awards Official MicrositeHolcim Foundation Official Website
{{Holcim
International architecture awards
Foundations based in Switzerland
Holcim Group
International sustainability organizations
Non-profit organisations based in Switzerland