Pioneers of sustainable construction have been commended at the European phase of the LafargeHolcim Awards, with two UK winners revealed. Now in its fifth cycle (2017-18), the awards have been designed to reward and recognise those projects that push boundaries in balancing environmental performance, social responsibility, and economic growth. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners from each region will compete for the global LafargeHolcim Awards in 2018, with a prize fund of US$2 million allocated to the o
Pioneers of sustainable construction have been commended at the European phase of the LafargeHolcim Awards, with two UK winners revealed.
Now in its fifth cycle (2017-18), the awards have been designed to reward and recognise those projects that push boundaries in balancing environmental performance, social responsibility, and economic growth.
The Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners from each region will compete for the global LafargeHolcim Awards in 2018, with a prize fund of US$2 million allocated to the overall winners.
Open between July 2016 to March 2017, entries were evaluated by an independent jury of expert judges for each region: Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific.
With an unprecedented 792 valid projects submitted in the Europe region this cycle, the expert jury selected the winners, and these were revealed at a recent awards ceremony in Marseille, France.
ZEDpods of, London, UK, received the Bronze overall award for its work in zero (fossil) energy development units on parking lots in London. This which was commended as providing a valid prototype for a low-carbon architecture built above existing public parking spaces, an ingenious solution to solve London’s housing shortage.
Anna Androva who studied at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture in London was awarded the Next Generation 3rd prize 2017 Europe for her Liquid Era project. This explored the new architectural vocabularies for a future city in an era marked as much by the physicality of things as by the liquidity of the digital realm.
“As we look at the construction industry, it is incremental that we balance the need for economic growth with sustainability. Aggregate Industries is committed to lead this transformation and help communities build their future,” says François Petry, CEO at Aggregate Industries, the UK arm of the LafargeHolcim Group, who attended the awards and presented the Next Generation 3rd prize to the UK winner.
“We are proud to support locally the international LafargeHolcim Awards to reward and recognise those businesses and individuals who have truly pushed boundaries in sustainable design. This is the most significant global competition for sustainable design and the fact that we had two local winning projects in the European Regional competition is a proof that UK is pioneering in this area, and we as a company, will continue our efforts to promote sustainable constructions.
“We received an incredible response to the competition and were astounded by the use of innovative and future-orientated concepts submitted from around the world.”
The overall Gold prize was awarded jointly to two projects in Brussels, Belgium.
With its project, BC architects and studies plan to integrate the needs of a waste management company with the rapidly developing canal district, while TETRA architecten proposes appropriate measures to integrate an existing concrete plant into the burgeoning urban context, and thereby prevent the loss of a significant piece of the city’s industrial base.
