Nigerian construction experts, students advised to enter for $2m LafargeHolcim Awards
As entry for the $2m LafargeHolcim Awards for sustainable construction competition closes midnight Tuesday, the management of Lafarge Africa, leading construction solutions providers in Nigeria has encouraged experts in the sector to avail themselves the opportunity to enter.
Explaining on the chances of Nigerian entries weekend, the Head, Sustainability and Corporate Brand in the Communications Department of Lafarge Africa Plc., Mrs. Temitope Oguntokun said the 5th International LafargeHolcim Awards seeks smart solutions for cities and the built environment and that Two million dollar are up for grabs.
According to her, “The LafargeHolcim Awards is the most significant global competition in sustainable design because it seeks leading projects of professionals as well as bold ideas from the Next Generation that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence. Organized by the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, the competition identifies the ideas with the highest potential to tackle today’s challenges to increasing urbanization and to improve quality of life”.
“Projects and concepts from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, planning, technology, and civil and materials engineering are eligible to be entered online in the USD 2 million Awards competition; it closes for submissions tomorrow, March 21, 2017.
“The competition’s main category is open to architects, planners, engineers, students of related disciplines, project owners, builders and construction firms that showcase sustainable responses to technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues within contemporary building and construction. Projects must have reached an advanced stage of design, have a high probability of execution, and may not have started construction before July 4, 2016.
Oguntokun explained further that “Participants up to the age of 30 years of age can also submit visionary concepts and bold ideas in the competition, irrespective of the probability of actual implementation of the project: the Next Generation category specifically seeks “blue-sky” solutions by students and young professionals”.
She advised Nigerians and other Africans both experts and students interested in entering for the awards to login at www.lafargeholcim-awards.org/enter and fill up the free forms and submit seamlessly as the entries end Tuesday.
“The competition is divided in five geographic regions – each with its own jury of renowned specialists. Projects are evaluated according to the region in which they are to be built, and are measured against the five “target issues” for sustainable construction which look at a project from a holistic perspective and take its entire lifecycle into account.
“The criteria cover innovation and transferability; ethical standards and social inclusion; resource and environmental performance; economic viability and compatibility; and, contextual and aesthetic impact. The juries are headed by Harry Gugger (for region Europe), Ray Cole (North America), Angelo Bucci (Latin America), Nagwa Sherif (Middle East Africa) and Donald Bates (Asia Pacific).
“The winners will be announced at a series of five consecutive Awards ceremonies in the second half of 2017. Winners automatically qualify for the global Awards competition in 2018.
“Entry in the competition is free and must be made in English using a web-based form to provide information on authorship, a project summary, technical details, as well as project images or illustrations. A comprehensive “Step-by-step” guide explains the evaluation criteria in detail and gives instructions on how to prepare an entry at www.lafargeholcim-awards.org.
The LafargeHolcim Awards is supported by world-renowned technical universities. Top in the partners include the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne) leads the Academic Committee of the LafargeHolcim Foundation. Other affiliated universities are: American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon; American University of Cairo (AUC), Egypt; Ecole Supérieure d’Architecture de Casablanca (EAC), Morocco; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) in Mumbai, India; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA; Tongji University (TJU) in Shanghai, China; Tsinghua University (THU) in Beijing, China; Universidad Iberoamericana (IBERO) in Mexico City, Mexico; Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; University of Melbourne, Australia; and University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Useful links for the awards details include overview of the Awards competition: www.lafargeholcim-awards.org/intro; Download the Step-by-step guide on how to enter a project: www.lafargeholcim-awards.org/guide; Enter the competition using the online entry form: www.lafargeholcim-awards.org/enter; View full list of jury members: www.lafargeholcim-awards.org/juries; See details of “target issues” for sustainable construction: www.lafargeholcim-awards.org/target.
Browse through more than 200 former LafargeHolcim Awards prize winning projects: www.lafargeholcim-foundation.org/projects.
