Images courtesy Holcim Foundation

Magnificent Morocco: A project centred on restoration of the river through Medina of Fez was awarded the top prize at the Global Holcim Awards. Local architect Aziza Chaouni and U.S. urban planner Takako Tajima seek to revitalize the ancient heart of this UNESCO World Heritage city via a series of interventions to renovate traditional tanneries, create public spaces and pedestrian zones, and restore wetlands and biodiversity.

The Swiss-based Holcim Foundation and an international jury of architects and engineers have selected four projects from a list of thousands as the world's top sustainable construction endeavours of the last three years.

The winners are a diverse group:
• Gold ($300,000 US)—a river remediation and urban development plan in Fez, Morocco;
• Silver ($200,000 US)—a low-impact greenfield university campus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;
• Bronze ($100,000 US)—rural community development schemes for Beijing, China; and
• Innovation ($50,000 US)—self-contained day labour stations in San Francisco, Calif.

Almost 5000 sustainable construction projects from more than 120 countries entered five regional Holcim Awards programs last year. Winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards automatically qualified for the global competition. This shortlist included one Canadian project—Laurentian University's Sudbury, Ont., freshwater research facility. The building, designed by Busby Perkins + Will and J.L. Richards & Associates, won Bronze at the North American awards last October.

The awards are sponsored by international cement company Holcim Ltd. (whose Canadian division was known, until recently, as St. Lawrence Cement). The next competition cycle opens July 2010. Visit www.holcimfoundation.org for more information on the winning projects and the application process.

Designed by Liz Ogbu and John Peterson of San Francisco-based nonprofit Public Architecture, this flexible day labourer structure offers shelter, benches, washrooms, a kitchen, and an education/training space. Green and recycled materials are used to minimize the environmental footprint and economic cost of each facility. The design won an Innovation prize at the Global Holcim Awards.