World Architecture Festival (WAF) has revealed the winners of ten WAFX prizes, supported by WAF sponsor GreenCoat®, with the overall prize awarded to Studio Gang, for its Beloit College Powerhouse Project in Wisconsin, USA. The prizes are awarded to future projects that identify key ecological and societal challenges which architects are actively seeking to address over the next ten years. These challenges span diverse topic areas including climate change, energy saving and carbon emissions, water wastage and shortage, ageing populations and health issues, reusable materials, smart cities, building technology, cultural identity, ethics and power and justice.
The prize winners will be given the opportunity to present their projects live at the World Architecture Festival on 28th and 29th November, with the overall winner receiving a prize at the Festival’s star-studded Gala Dinner on the 30th November, the culmination of the three-day event at the RAI convention centre in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.
The WAFX judges were impressed by the diversity of innovative approaches by architects and designers across the globe, which varied from innovative solar panel fields in The Netherlands, to urban green corridors in Bangkok, eco farms in rural Vietnam and river parks in Colombia.
Transforming a former power plant into a student union and recreation facility, Studio Gang’s winning Beloit College Powerhouse Project seeks to replace an old model of energy with a new model to support the health and wellbeing of its many inhabitants. The Powerhouse is designed to become a centre for human energy, activity and health. Nestled between the Rock River and the college’s campus, the Powerhouse will serve as a recreational resource and a community forum, all the while fostering a public connection to the riverfront – embracing it rather than polluting it – that foregrounds the connection between human and environmental health. The judges were impressed not only with the repurposing of its cavernous industrial spaces, but with how the project maximises its riverfront location, utilising river water to manage the temperature of the building whilst also significantly minimising total energy use.
Paul Finch, Programme Director of World Architecture Festival commented,
“We have been amazed by the standard of entries across this year’s future project categories and the prize winners in addressing some of humanities greatest concerns. Studio Gang’s masterful Beloit College Powerhouse Project triumphed over a very strong field and we look forward to hearing more from them and the other prize winners when the Festival convenes in November.”
Anke Meyer, Corporate Marketing SSAB commented,
“This year’s WAFX winners were all worthy of the overall prize. Myself and the SSAB Swedish Steel team were impressed by the standard of entries and the forward thinking yet realistic concepts they demonstrated. We want to offer a huge congratulations to Studio Gang and their winning design, Powerhouse. We felt that this project reanimated a once tarnished river edge to a new centre focused around community, health and wellness. We look forward to presenting Studio Gang with their award at the WAF Gala Dinner.”
The WAFX 2018 Prize Winners are:
WAFX – Re-Use + Overall Winner
Beloit College Powerhouse
Studio Gang
WAFX – Climate, Energy and Carbon
Highway Solarpanel Field
70F Architecture
WAFX – Ageing and Health
The Alder Center
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
WAFX – Food
Cuchi Organic Eco Farm
IF (Integrated Field)
WAFX – Building and Technology
W350Project
Nikken Sekkei
WAFX – Power and Justice
Tower Inten_city
Savage Dodd Architects with UrbanWorks
WAFX – Water
Medellin River Parks / Botanical Park Master Plan
Sebastian Monsalve + Juan David Hoyos
WAFX – Ethics and Value
Sheltainer – Where Humanity Meets Hope
Sheltainer
WAFX – Smart Cities
10 KM
Shma Company Limited
WAFX – Cultural Identity
Ataturk Culture Center
Tabanlioglu Architects
For more details on the WAF Awards and the festival please visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.