The jury greatly appreciated the project’s objective to promote economic growth in the region through innovation in environmental technologies. The building is accordingly conceived as a test bed for sustainable research exploring new techniques pertaining to the use of renewable resources – energy for heating and cooling, rainwater retention, temperature control, daylight, and natural ventilation. At the core of the scheme is the intention to establish a careful balance between the natural and fabricated realm – an objective most clearly expressed in the project’s landscape strategy, which aims to integrate the building in its natural setting.