The winners of the 3rd International Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects and visions from across Latin America have been announced. A total of USD 300,000 was presented to eleven outstanding projects at a ceremony in Buenos Aires. The winning projects mainly address the challenges of intensified urbanization – and range in scale from innovative community buildings through to broad master plans and infrastructure projects. 

The jury applauds the high quality of the design and the ambition to blend purist architectural language with environmentally friendly components. The sound finance plan, especially the concept of transparent financing has a great innovative quality. The strongest element of the approach is the interaction of the building with the city through its well-articulated transition spaces.

This university library project continues from earlier building works to construct the private non-profit Diego Portales University. Founded in 1982, the university in central Santiago has more than 1,300 academic staff and 11,000 students with nationally-recognized programs in business, law, psychology and journalism. The design meets the demands of the dense situation with a multi-floor layout and elements that bring additional natural light and fresh air into the building or provide retreat spaces such as the green roof. With both reflecting materials and intense planting, an inner courtyard functions as light shaft.