HOLCIM FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

Founded by Holcim in 2003, the Holcim Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization committed to accelerating the global movement for sustainable design and construction. Its mission is to support the architecture, design, engineering and urban planning innovators who want to change how the world builds.

Dedicated to Building a Better World

 

The Foundation fulfills this mission through a range of activities designed to foster the exchange of ideas and best practices across regions and generations. These include the Holcim Awards – the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. Our global program of events connects innovative thinkers from different disciplines, while an international grants program supports students and emerging talents.

Impact

The Foundation’s expert community numbers close to 500 people from across research and practice representing all regions of the world. Through collaboration with these experts and its network of partner universities, the Foundation has published close to 300 papers and has provided in-person educational and networking opportunities to over 10,000 students and professionals since its inception.

We are convinced that a number of interdependent goals and guiding principles for sustainable construction must be understood, mainstreamed and implemented to succeed in building a better world.

The Foundation exists to support the architecture, design and engineering innovators who want to change the way the world builds. We aim to accelerate the exchange of ideas and best practices across regions and across generations.

Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction

The Foundation conducts the Holcim Awards – the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design with total prize money per cycle of USD 1 million. With close to 30,000 entries received from 130 countries over the past two decades, the reach and impact of the Holcim Awards is substantial. More than 250 projects have been recognized across five regions and three winning project authors have become Pritzker Architecture Prize laureates.

DISCOVER THE HOLCIM AWARDS

 

Supporting the next generation of industry leaders

Empowering the next generation of professionals in the building and construction industry is key to transforming the sector. We work with our Next Generation advisors and ambassadors to select and support the implementation of ideas to help raise the profile of sustainable construction at the local and global level.

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Democratizing knowledge on sustainable construction

We have made it our mission to democratize and accelerate the global movement for sustainable design and construction by making knowledge accessible to all. We curate and organize events to enable both the blue-sky thinking and down-to-earth knowledge sharing critical to transforming the way the construction sector designs and builds.

BROWSE CURRENT AND PAST EVENTS

Accelerating the global movement for sustainable construction

Extending the Cycle in Switzerland

This Holcim Awards Gold winner exemplifies how design processes can be turned upside-down in favor of circular construction.

Next Generation Accelerator (NGX) Workshop

The Foundation held a workshop with a hand-selected group of next generation experts to plot future challenges and ideas on transforming the built environment.

Wetland Vitality in Colombia

A landscape design Holcim Awards Gold winner for the recovery of a wetland creates environmental and social sustainability.

Inspiring young professionals

Holcim Awards Next Generation winners from The Americas gathered in Argentina to create a network for future exchange on architecture, urbanism and design.

High-Performance Tower in Australia

A revolutionary tower at the cutting edge of sustainable design with outstanding environmental performance won a Holcim Awards Bronze.

A launchpad for what architecture could be

The Foundation hosted a workshop with some of the brightest young minds in architecture, urbanism and design from Europe, Middle East Africa and Asia Pacific.

Towering Virtuoso in Sweden

A Holcim Awards Bronze winning mixed-use timber building with innovative construction systems that achieve a carbon neutral profile.