Jury of leading professionals selects prize-winning projects for Europe in Lyon
The Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 regional jury meetings continued in Lyon, France, bringing together the continent’s leading professionals in sustainable construction and architectural design to select the winning European projects.
The jury (pictured right) was chaired by architect Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Founding Partner, Snøhetta, Norway, and included a distinguished panel of experts: Thomas Auer – Professor of Building Technology & Climate Responsive Design at the Technical University of Munich, Germany; Sandra Boivin – Head of R&D Department, Solutions & Products, Holcim Innovation Centre, France; Caroline Bos – Co-founder & Principal Urban Planner, UNStudio, Netherlands; Johanna Gibbons – Founding Partner, J&L Gibbons, United Kingdom; Stuart Smith – Director, Arup, Germany; and Pierluigi Turco – Founding Partner, a-fact | architecture factory, Italy.
“It proves that even with a very diverse group, we can agree on what defines quality in architecture.”
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (left) commented on the collaborative nature of the discussions in defining what sustainability means for world-class architecture. The architect, whose firm is known for environmentally sensitive projects such as Powerhouse Brattørkaia (an office building in Trondheim that produces more energy than it consumes), observed that reaching consensus among such varied perspectives in Lyon reinforced the rigour and clarity of the Holcim Foundation’s evaluation process.
“What I like about the Holcim Foundation Awards is that it’s basically about projects not yet finished,” he added. “So in a way, there is an expectation of what is to come—it allows us and the Foundation to follow up and see how its decision is actually implemented in the real world.”
The multidisciplinary panel brought together deep expertise across architecture, engineering, and sustainable design, assessing projects against the Holcim Foundation’s core principles: uplifting places, a healthy planet, thriving communities, and viable economics.
“For the last 20 years, the Holcim Foundation has been pushing sustainable construction, and now we’re addressing some of the major issues the industry faces in delivering it.”
Stuart Smith, an engineer who also serves on the Holcim Foundation’s board, reflected on the role of the Holcim Foundation and its future focus.
During the gathering, jury members visited examples of sustainable design in Lyon, including Holcim’s Innovation Hub and the Confluence district – a landmark urban redevelopment project. The Innovation Hub, Holcim’s global research and development center, showcases cutting-edge sustainable building solutions, while the Confluence district demonstrates how former industrial areas can be transformed into vibrant, low-impact urban neighbourhoods.
Stuart Smith noted that seeing thoughtful urban planning and sustainable design in action offered the jury an energising lens for their deliberations, grounding conversations in the built realities of today and the long-term outcomes of past ambitions.
“Lyon’s La Confluence is a compelling example of how urban development evolves over time,” he said. “I visited 20 years ago at the very beginning of the project, and now you see the outcome—a thriving city, a revitalised neighbourhood that brings people together. It’s full of fantastic public spaces and reconnects the city with nature at the meeting point of two rivers. It’s a powerful case study in what sustainable urban transformation can look like.”
The outcomes of the jury deliberations will be celebrated at the Holcim Foundation Awards Ceremony to take place in November in Venice, Italy.