USD 220,000 in prize money was presented to the best submissions from Africa Middle East in the Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects. The competition run by the Swiss Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction in collaboration with five of the world’s leading technical universities aims to promote sustainable approaches to the built environment.

This ambitious project is distinguished by its proposal for a park that also serves as a community resource centre facilitating a variety of local economic development initiatives, cultural revitalization, as well as the conservation of natural bio-diversity. Highly convincing are the design philosophy and process which follow a logic of “systems-thinking” and demonstrate an acute awareness of the host context at socio-cultural and economic levels.

This entry from southern Africa proposes noteworthy interactions of culture, society, and the natural environment in the plan for a new park. The park will serve as a community resource center that facilitates a variety of local economic development initiatives, cultural revitalization, as well as the conservation of natural biodiversity. The logic of systems thinking demonstrates an acute awareness of contextual needs at sociocultural and economic levels.