The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has announced twenty winning projects for the 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards, spanning Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and North America, with a prize pool of USD 1 million.
All winners will be showcased at a prestigious event in Venice on November 20, 2025, which will be streamed globally. The event's highlight will be the announcement of five regional Grand Prizes.
Resilient infrastructure working with and for nature
Award-winner Moakley Park in Boston, USA uses berms and restored marshes for protective water infiltration, highlighting how resilient design now involves embracing water rather than simply resisting it. Likewise, in flood-prone Porto Alegre, Brazil, another winner, a school design, elevates classrooms above ground and utilizes the rooftop as an emergency shelter. Winning projects in Madrid, Spain, and Medellín, Colombia, showcase the positive impact of ecological restoration, with the Spanish capital’s The Southern River Parks being an urban-scale example of using intelligent landscape design to counter desertification in the face of climate change.
Design as a healing tool
The Awards revealed architecture’s emerging role as a healing tool in regions affected by war and instability. Winning entry, Art-Tek Tulltorja in Pristina, Kosovo, transforms a former brick factory into a vibrant meeting place, demonstrating how construction can contribute to community recovery while addressing heritage preservation in fragile territories. Another winner, Qalandiya in the Palestinian Territories, shows how incremental village restoration can honor the past while strengthening cultural identity and reducing construction carbon footprint. Healing also rhymes with restoring what already exists: in Bangladesh, the conservation and adaptive reuse development of the Old Dhaka Central Jail is recast as an urban oasis that provides much-needed civic space.
Low-carbon, Circular Approaches
Climate action and low-carbon design were also dominant themes in the winning entries. The Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre in Winnipeg, Canada, a Passive House-certified gateway to a restored quarry site, demonstrates that achieving ultra-low-carbon status is possible through the use of innovative materials and passive design strategies. Brookside Secondary School in Asaba, Nigeria, utilizes concrete frames infilled with locally crafted brick walls, demonstrating that hybrid approaches can deliver both structural performance and significantly reduced embodied carbon. Winning project Healing through Design, a Kintsugi-inspired Health Center in Bengaluru, India showcases the value of low-tech circularity: locally sourced, recycled materials and native planting form a living, green façade.
2025 Jury
34 independent experts across 5 regions
- JURY CHAIR |
- ASIA PACIFIC |
- EUROPE |
- LATIN AMERICA |
- MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA |
- NORTH AMERICA
Founding Principal, Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture, France
Lina Ghotmeh is a renowned Franco-Lebanese architect recognized for her sustainable and innovative designs that blend history, memory, and ecology, exemplified in projects like the Stone Garden tower in Beirut.
Founder & Principal, Sou Fujimoto Architects, Japan
Sou Fujimoto is a celebrated Japanese architect, acknowledged for his avant-garde, nature-inspired designs that blur boundaries between architecture and nature, exemplified by projects like the Serpentine Pavilion and House NA.
Image: © David Vintiner
Founding Partner, Studio Gang, USA
Architect Jeanne Gang is known for designs that strengthen connections between people, their communities, and nature. Her award-winning projects across the Americas and Europe include the Gilder Center, the American Museum of Natural History, and an expansion of the Clinton Presidential Center.
Image: © John David Pittman
Principal, Barclay & Crousse Architecture, Peru
Sandra Barclay is a distinguished Peruvian architect, co-founder of Barclay & Crousse, renowned for her minimalist, context-sensitive designs that respond to local climates and landscapes, such as the Place of Memory in Lima.
Founding Partner, Snøhetta, Norway
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen is a prominent Norwegian architect and co-founder of Snøhetta, known for his collaborative, nature-driven designs that integrate architecture with landscape, exemplified by landmark projects like the Oslo Opera House.
Design Director & Founder, Taller Capital and Professor of Architecture, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Country Market Director APAC, Henning Larsen, Singapore
Director & East Asia Board Member, ARUP, Hong Kong
Founding Partner, SJK Architects, India
Head of Sustainability, Holcim Australia & New Zealand
Chairperson, Board of the Holcim Foundation; Sustainability Business Advisor; and Founding CEO, Green Building Council of Australia
Principal Architect, Oshinówò Studio, Nigeria
Lecturer, School of Architecture, Planning and Design, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Founder, Driss Kettani Architect, Morocco
Founder & Chair, Megawra-Built Environment Collective and Co-ordinator, Athar Lina Initiative, Egypt
Co-founding Director, AKT II, United Kingdom
Scientific Director, Holcim Innovation Center, France
Co-Executive Director and Senior Principal, MASS Design Group, Rwanda
Founding Partner, Snøhetta, USA
Founding Partner, KPMB Architects, Canada
Co-founder & Design Director, AKT II, United Kingdom
Founder & Executive Director, Climate Positive Design, USA
Vice President Manitoba & Saskatchewan, Lafarge Canada
Principal, Beals & Lyon Architecture, Chile
Founder, MDE Urban Lab, Colombia
Americas South Leader, Arup, Colombia
Founder, Estúdio Gustavo Utrabo, Brazil
Co-founder & Principal Urban Planner, UNStudio, Netherlands
Founding Partner, J&L Gibbons, United Kingdom
Head of R&D Department, Solutions & Products, Holcim Innovation Center
Director, Arup, Germany
Managing Director & Partner, Transsolar Energietechnik and Professor of Building Technology & Climate Responsive Design, Department of Architecture, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Vice President, Sales and Integral Solutions, Holcim Mexico
Founding Partner, a-fact architecture factory, Italy
The Holcim Foundation Awards are the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design.
The competition offers a prize pool of USD 1 million across five regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and North America. USD 200,000 in prize money is allocated to winners in each region.
Independent expert juries evaluated entries using the Holcim Foundation’s goals for sustainable construction that serve as a road map to drive system change: uplifting places, a healthy planet, viable economics, and thriving communities.
2025 introduces a Grand Prize in each region (replacing the former medal hierarchy) to honor excellence without diminishing other approaches. While all winners are celebrated equally for their excellence, the Grand Prize highlights those projects that the juries determined demonstrate the greatest transformative potential for advancing sustainable construction globally.
Each of the 20 winning projects receives USD 40,000, recognizing their outstanding contributions to sustainable construction. Additionally, one project from each of the five regions will be honored with a Grand Prize, receiving an extra USD 40,000—bringing their total award to USD 80,000.
These five regional Grand Prize winners, representing the most impactful projects from each region will be announced at the Awards ceremony in Venice on November 20, 2025. Watch the live stream on our website or Archdaily. ADD TO YOUR CALENDAR
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