The Holcim Award winners for North America have been announced in Toronto. The 13 winning projects illustrate how sustainable construction continues to evolve—developing more sophisticated and multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing the building and construction industry.
The winning teams will share more than $300,000 in prize money.
All images courtesy Holcim.
GOLD PRIZE: Poreform
Las Vegas
Authors: Water Pore Partnership, Yale University
This design proposal repositions water infrastructure as a civic project. Facing a significant shortage of water in an arid region, local drainage systems are incapable of handling and collecting the water that floods the Las Vegas valley when it rains.
Poreform, a porous concrete surface poured in place with fabric formwork is capable of rapid saturation and slow release, and reframes water as a valuable resource rather than a liability. The surface feeds water to subterranean basins. It is located within the public realm and claims a stake as civic infrastructure that is as important as its nearby sister, the Hoover Dam.
SILVER PRIZE: Rebuilding by Design
New York
Authors: Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, One Architecture, James Lima Planning + Development, Buro Happold Engineering, Level Agency for Infrastructure, Green Shield Ecology, ARCADIS, AEA Consulting, Project Projects
The BIG U project, which you can read more about here, addresses the vulnerability of New York City to coastal flooding and proposes a protective ribbon around lower Manhattan. The master plan uses a raised berm strategically to create a sequence of public spaces along the water’s edge along the raised bank.
The infrastructural barrier incorporates a range of neighborhood functions and as a result offers multiple design opportunities, fostering local commercial, recreational, and cultural activities.
BRONZE PRIZE: Hy-Fi
New York
Authors: The Living, Arup, 3M, Ecovative Design
Hy-Fi is a cluster of circular towers formed using reflective bricks, designed for and commissioned by the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program. The structure uses recent advances in biotechnology combined with cutting-edge computation and engineering to create new building materials that are almost fully organically grown and compostable.
Beyond the use of technological innovations, the tower challenges perceptual expectations through unexpected relationships of patterns, color, and light. You can see more here.
Check out the other winners at the Holcim Foundation
Related Stories
Hotel Facilities | Sep 15, 2023
The next phase of sustainability in luxury hotels
The luxury hotel market has seen an increase in green-minded guests looking for opportunities to support businesses that are conscientious of the environment.
Resiliency | Sep 11, 2023
FEMA names first communities for targeted assistance on hazards resilience
FEMA recently unveiled the initial designation of 483 census tracts that will be eligible for increased federal support to boost resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. The action was the result of bipartisan legislation, the Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022. The law aims to help localities most at risk from the impacts of climate change to build resilience to natural hazards.
Metals | Sep 11, 2023
Best practices guide for air leakage testing for metal building systems released
The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) released a new guidebook, Metal Building Systems - Best Practices to Comply with Whole-Building Air Leakage Testing Requirements.
Office Buildings | Aug 31, 2023
About 11% of U.S. office buildings could be suitable for green office-to-residential conversions
A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper from researchers at New York University and Columbia Business School indicates that about 11% of U.S. office buildings may be suitable for conversion to green multifamily properties.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 23, 2023
Constructing multifamily housing buildings to Passive House standards can be done at cost parity
All-electric multi-family Passive House projects can be built at the same cost or close to the same cost as conventionally designed buildings, according to a report by the Passive House Network. The report included a survey of 45 multi-family Passive House buildings in New York and Massachusetts in recent years.
Regulations | Aug 23, 2023
Gas industry drops legal challenge to heat pump requirement in Washington building code
Gas and construction industry groups recently moved to dismiss a lawsuit they had filed to block new Washington state building codes that require heat pumps in new residential and commercial construction. The lawsuit contended that the codes harm the industry groups’ business, interfere with consumer energy choice, and don’t comply with federal law.
Sustainability | Aug 15, 2023
Carbon management platform offers free carbon emissions assessment for NYC buildings
nZero, developer of a real-time carbon accounting and management platform, is offering free carbon emissions assessments for buildings in New York City. The offer is intended to help building owners prepare for the city’s upcoming Local Law 97 reporting requirements and compliance. This law will soon assess monetary fines for buildings with emissions that are in non-compliance.
Green | Aug 7, 2023
Rooftop photovoltaic panels credited with propelling solar energy output to record high
Solar provided a record-high 7.3% of U.S. electrical generation in May, “driven in large part by growth in ‘estimated’ small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV whose output increased by 25.6% and accounted for nearly a third (31.9%) of total solar production,” according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Resiliency | Aug 7, 2023
Creative ways cities are seeking to beat urban heat gain
As temperatures in many areas hit record highs this summer, cities around the world are turning to creative solutions to cope with the heat. Here are several creative ways cities are seeking to beat urban heat gain.
Government Buildings | Aug 7, 2023
Nearly $1 billion earmarked for energy efficiency upgrades to federal buildings
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced plans to use $975 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding for energy efficiency and clean energy upgrades to federal buildings across the country. The investment will impact about 40 million sf, or about 20% of GSA’s federal buildings portfolio.