Submit your leading edge unbuilt work to the Holcim Foundation Awards -- get international recognition
by Kira Gould
The Holcim Foundation awards has opened their 2025 cycle. It may seem like there are so many awards programs these days, and they can be a big time and money sink, so it’s important to choose wisely. From the COTE community perspective, I find a lot of awards programs rather thin. Even if they are including sustainability in their criteria, many seem to do this (even now!) in vague ways that often seem designed to encourage greenwashy language (or worse).
All that context is why I think so highly of the Holcim Foundation awards. This is a free-to-enter international program, and the organizers, the Switzerland-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, are keen to encourage more North American entries. This year, the inimitable Jeanne Gang is the jury chair for the North American segment of the award. That’s a strong signal, I think, for how discerning this jury will be. Gang has been championing and demonstrating excellence in reuse for some time, and she’s one of the most thoughtful architects of her generation.
While Holcim is a concrete company, the not-for-profit Foundation is purpose driven toward promoting and advancing holistic sustainability around the world. They have been running this program for 20 years.
Julie Hiromoto, FAIA, served on the US jury for this program in the last cycle (2023). I talked to her about why it’s special. “I think this is a democratizing award,” she said. “There is no entry fee and there are no complicated categories. The fact that it’s focused on late-design-stage and early-construction-phase projects sets it apart. This is a global award, and the Holcim Foundation wants to recognize a lot of teams and projects from different climate zones and across use types. The winners each year become a portfolio of emerging work that is pushing boundaries.”
Julie points out that the emphasis is on holistic sustainability, encompassing human and ecological health, social equity, resource use, circularity, climate response, and more. And this is not just for architects: the program recognizes that the built environment community is made up of all disciplines and owner types; many who enter are multidisciplinary professionals or teams.
And the jury is special, too: “The juries are comprised of academics, building scientists, designers, and people with awareness of environmental and social responsibility,” Hiromoto says. Other 2025 jurors in the North America region include business owner Marianne McKenna, structural design engineer and educator Hanif Kara, landscape architect and climate action leader Pamela Conrad, manufacturer and construction industry expert Tina Larson, and board member Harry Gugger.
The US region has long lagged in the number of submission. The winners get cash prizes and travel funding to the recognition event, which is held in Venice. The Foundation dedicates $200,000 per region for prizes.
The competition is open now; the registration deadline is 11 February 2025. Learn more here: https://awards.holcimfoundation.org/home?utm_source=AIA&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HFAwards2025.
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Kira Gould, Hon. AIA, is a writer and strategist who works with people and organizations in the built environment community who are focused on holistic design and climate action toward a regenerative future.