Sustainable construction in Asia Pacific also means building for the community. This was clearly shown by the projects that won prizes in the regional Holcim Awards presented in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The three main Awards winning projects deal with buildings for education – involving the community and sustainably improving neighborhoods.

Initiated by a state-owned enterprise, the project offers a set of strategies for the regeneration of the Baitasi historic neighborhood in the west downtown district of Beijing. Questioning the outcome of normative urbanization processes in China, which often rely on the eviction of local populations and the replacement of existing buildings by new construction, the proposed scheme empowers local stakeholders and vulnerable on-site residents to upgrade infrastructure and public services, while encouraging them to improve their housing and workshop units themselves. A so-called “max-min” concept is pursued that promotes the implementation of minimal means for maximum effect. New low-rise, courtyard housing will be added within the built fabric via pilot programs to increase densification without high-rise construction.

People and place

To avoid being a pure gentrification process, the project aims to support the local low-income people, documenting their situations and requirements through door-to-door interviews and measuring, and improving their life quality by upgrading accessibility, infrastructure, public services and living spaces. Responding to contextual and aesthetic impact, the project explores the micro-scaled, decentralized, prefabricated technologies in planning and design, to protect the historic physical setting at most. And the pilot housing units are also fitting well into the traditional local architectural modular both in plan and in section, and make a positive contribution to the cultural expression.