The Holcim Foundation is one of our favorite international organizations. They are committed to sustainable design, architecture and construction, which is a cause very close to our hearts as a real estate team. They do so much to share ideas and promote incredible work that others are doing throughout the world. If you are looking for a good resource for information and inspiration about sustainable construction, we highly recommend checking them out.
2023 Holcim Award Finalists
The Holcim Foundation recently announced their 20 finalists for the 2023 Holcim Awards. This is the world’s most significant design competition focused on sustainable construction. The awards ceremony celebrates the leaders in the industry who are aiming to make the world a better place—one sustainable building project at a time.
Of the 20 Holcim Award finalists this year, only two projects are located in the United States and both are in the Seattle area. This goes to show how far behind our country is when it comes to innovative sustainable design and construction. It’s a little disheartening to see no California-based nominees on the list, given how progressive our state tries to be. Nonetheless, we want to congratulate and showcase the two projects in Washington as we root for our neighbors to the north. There are also some nominees from Mexico and Canada representing North America.
Kaiser Borsari Hall
Kaiser Borsari Hall was designed by Perkins & Will. It is Western Washington University’s new building for electrical and computer engineering, energy science and computer science. It features a net zero carbon energy design and has already won several prestigious design awards. The building exceeds all LEED standards for energy use, carbon, and other environmental indicators. It offers a state-of-the-art learning space and the building itself will serve as positive inspiration to the engineers, scientists and designers of tomorrow. Learn more.
Maritime Innovation Center
The Port of Seattle is creating the Maritime Innovation Center (MInC). It will be a restoration and modernization project that reimagines the historic Ship Supply Building, originally built in 1914. It will become a 15,000 square foot multi-purpose facility. It represents a significant achievement in sustainable building practices and will meet Living Building certifications. It will serve as an incubation space for BlueTech start-ups and new technologies in the maritime industry. It will also be an event hall for meeting, seminars and classes. Learn more.
Holcim Awards 2023 Ceremony (and Livestream)
The 2023 Holcim Awards Ceremony will take place in Venice, Italy on November 18 as part of the Biennale Architettura 2023 – 18th International Architecture Exhibition. They will be livestreaming the event around the globe. You can register to watch online for free by clicking the link here.
