2226 Emmenweid rethinks office design through resilient simplicity. This four-storey brick office maintains stable indoor temperatures of 22–26 °C year-round—without heating, cooling, or mechanical ventilation. Its double-skin, 80-cm thick masonry walls and deep windows deliver thermal mass and passive comfort, regulated by smart, sensor-controlled ventilation. The flexible core layout supports diverse uses. Winner of the Brick Award 2022 (Working Together category), the project demonstrates that elegant architecture and human wellbeing can flourish with low-tech, low-carbon design.

This rooftop garden atop the ARTS Group’s headquarters in Fukuoka showcases how underutilised commercial space can become a multifunctional hub for food production, biodiversity, and employee wellbeing. The 1,000 m² rooftop hosts vegetable beds, aquaponics systems, pollinator plants, and shaded seating areas, all integrated into a workplace wellness strategy. The project reduces urban heat island effects, supports local food resilience, and offers hands-on sustainability education to staff and visitors. It exemplifies how business-led green infrastructure can enhance environmental quality while fostering social connection and climate-conscious organisational culture in dense urban settings.

The Acuña Housing Prototype is a low-cost, climate-resilient housing model developed by Rural Studio and Échale to serve flood-prone communities along the U.S.–Mexico border. Built using compressed earth blocks and passive design principles, the prototype reduces embodied and operational carbon while ensuring durability and thermal comfort in extreme conditions. Developed in collaboration with local residents, the project supports self-build methods, community pride, and disaster resilience. The prototype serves as a replicable model for equitable, low-carbon housing that empowers underserved populations and responds to climate and migration challenges in one of North America’s most vulnerable regions.

Alaska Seeds of Change is an indoor hydroponic farming initiative that provides employment, life skills, and mental health support for at-risk youth in Anchorage. Operating in a climate-controlled, vertical farm environment, the project grows fresh produce year-round in a sub-Arctic region with limited food security. Participants gain agricultural training, counselling, and pathways into education and employment. The project reduces food miles, promotes healthy eating, and strengthens local resilience to climate and social stressors. It is a replicable model for how sustainable agriculture and youth development can intersect to build more equitable, adaptive urban futures.

The Alnatura Campus is a landmark of sustainable corporate design—Europe’s largest office building with rammed-earth façades. Spanning around 13,500 m², it hosts 500 employees across three floors. Featuring integrated geothermal wall heating, natural ventilation via earth-duct systems, and a smart passive energy strategy, the building maintains year-round thermal comfort while minimizing resource use. With open-plan interiors flooded with daylight, communal kindergarten, organic restaurant, and gardens, it fosters collaboration, health, and social connection. DGNB Platinum-certified and honored with the German Sustainability Award, it embodies holistic, people-first, climate-positive architecture.

The Anita May Rosenstein Campus is a multi-purpose LGBTQ+ community centre combining affordable housing, social services, and cultural spaces. Home to youth, seniors, and transitional residents, it fosters intergenerational connection and inclusion. The design prioritises daylight, natural ventilation, and landscaped courtyards, reducing energy use while providing safe, restorative environments. LEED Gold-certified, the campus integrates rooftop solar, stormwater management, and high-efficiency systems. Beyond environmental benefits, it serves as a civic hub that addresses homelessness, supports mental health, and celebrates diversity through an open, welcoming urban presence.

The Arcadia Education Project is an amphibious bamboo school, nursery, hostel and vocational training centre that floats during monsoon floods and anchors during dry seasons. Built from local bamboo, repurposed steel drums, and tires, it adapts to nature, avoids disrupting its fragile riverine landscape, and remains operational year-round. Commissioned by the Maleka Welfare Trust, it was realized through local craft, innovation, and low-tech ecological design. Winner of the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the project demonstrates how dignified, climate-adaptive infrastructure can sustain education and community resilience in vulnerable settings.

Azraq School, completed by Emergency Architecture & Human Rights (EAHR) through its “100 Schools for Refugee Children” program, provides critical educational space for Syrian refugee youth using low-cost, sustainable methods. Built with compressed earth bricks, the school includes classrooms, IT and literacy centers, multipurpose rooms, toilet facilities, solar-powered electricity, shaded outdoor spaces, and sports areas. Through participatory design and training for local labor, the project enables over 200 out-of-school children to learn weekly, while empowering refugees with construction skills and restoring educational access in crisis contexts.

Bayalpata Hospital is a high‑quality rural healthcare campus delivering free care to one of Nepal’s most underserved regions. The campus uses seismically resilient rammed‑earth construction, passive ventilation and daylight, rainwater harvesting, and on‑site wastewater treatment to cut operating costs and environmental impact. Courtyards, shaded walkways, and staff housing support dignity, safety, and staff retention, while training spaces strengthen local capacity. By pairing climate‑sensitive architecture with public health delivery, Bayalpata improves patient outcomes, reduces travel and energy demand, and models equitable, low‑carbon healthcare infrastructure for remote communities.

Combat coastal erosion and bolster protection against sea-level rise and storm surges. Replace frequent, disruptive small-scale nourishment cycles with a single, longer-term solution. Foster habitat regeneration and biodiversity, and create new zones for recreation and nature EcoShape. Serve as a large-scale pilot to deepen understanding of natural sand transport systems and inform future coastal policies and projects

Set amidst cinnamon forests and durian trees, the Cassia Co‑op Training Centre serves as both a training facility and ethical benchmark for local farmers and factory workers. Its lightweight wooden superstructure atop a heavy brick base uses reclaimed cinnamon logs and passive cooling to create a naturally ventilated and earthquake-resilient space. Built in just three months, the centre includes classrooms, laboratories, offices, and a kitchen—all under a dramatic 600 m² roof. It revitalises local craftsmanship, enhances labor conditions, fosters equitable trade, and demonstrates how respectful, low-tech architecture can empower communities and environment.

Children Village is a boarding school complex for 540 students of the Canuanã School. Built with locally sourced timber and bricks, it uses passive cooling, large verandas, and open courtyards to maintain comfort in the tropical climate without air conditioning. Dormitories are designed as “homes” to foster belonging, while community spaces encourage social connection and cultural exchange. The project provides dignified living and learning conditions for children from remote communities, reduces environmental impact through local materials and low-tech climate control, and empowers students through a sense of ownership and shared identity.

Cork House is the UK’s first full-scale, solid-cork load-bearing house. Constructed from interlocking expanded cork blocks and prefabricated timber components, the building is assembled without glue or mortar, is carbon negative at completion, and designed for disassembly. It marries minimalist form, sensory warmth, and ecological responsibility, reimagining construction through a single biogenic material that supports negative emissions, low-tech assembly, and deep environmental sensitivity. The result is physically and emotionally resonant—walls that feel good to the touch, exude a calming aroma, and elevate the home to a living sustainability manifesto.

DATA 1 is a mixed-use office building in Seattle's Fremont district, purpose-built to improve urban ecology, while supporting local businesses. The LEED Gold and Salmon-Safe certified structure captures stormwater from the adjacent Aurora Bridge and directs it through bioretention features, safeguarding Lake Union salmon from toxic runoff. Generous natural daylighting, exterior balconies, and outdoor staircases encourage occupant well-being and spontaneous interaction with place. With ground-level retail and high visibility, the building sets a new typology of shared urban infrastructure that balances environmental restoration, workplace wellness, and community vitality.

The Dudley Interchange Transportation Hub is a cornerstone of the town’s regeneration strategy, integrating bus, tram, and future Very Light Rail services into a climate-resilient, inclusive mobility hub. Located on strategically assembled land, the project reconnects formerly fragmented areas and delivers high-quality public realm and wayfinding. Co-developed with local authorities and supported by community events during construction, the hub promotes accessibility, walkability, and place identity. It forms part of a broader transformation to address historic underinvestment, stimulate local pride, and enable low-carbon, multimodal transport—showcasing infrastructure as a catalyst for equitable, people-centred urban renewal.

EcoCocon is a modular, straw‑based wall system manufactured in Slovakia that offers a carbon‑sequestering, healthy, and high-performance construction alternative. Comprised of compressed straw insulation, a wooden load‑bearing frame, and breathable wood‑fibre facings, each panel is custom prefabricated for airtight, vapour‑permeable, and Passivhaus‑certified performance. The system delivers exceptional indoor comfort, fire resistance, and assembly speed, while capturing CO₂ and enabling cradle-to-cradle lifecycle. Adopted across Europe and the U.S., EcoCocon demonstrates how bio‑based innovation can transform construction towards a regenerative economy.

Empower Shack is a participatory housing and spatial planning initiative co-designed with residents of informal settlements in Cape Town. Using modular, fire-resistant, and service-enabled housing units, the project enhances safety, dignity, and resilience for low-income families. It integrates urban design, infrastructure, and land tenure solutions while improving community access to electricity, sanitation, and mobility. Beyond physical upgrades, the process empowers residents through skills training and civic participation. Empower Shack demonstrates how architecture, data, and policy can converge to deliver equitable, scalable models for upgrading informal settlements from within.

The Energy Bunker converts a WWII anti-aircraft tower into a resilient, district-scale renewable energy hub. Retaining its 42m concrete façade, the facility now stores 2 million liters of heat in a central tank, supplied by biomass CHP, solar thermal collectors, industrial waste heat, and photovoltaics. It supplies over 3,000 households with heat and nearly 1,000 homes with electricity, cutting annual CO₂ by around 6,600 tonnes. A café and museum in the turrets invite public engagement, making it a living landmark of climate resilience and adaptive reuse.

The Bayfront Campus is a lushly landscaped tech campus that seamlessly integrates workspace and nature. Buildings MPK‑20 and MPK‑21 feature expansive, open-plan interiors enhanced by large-scale daylighting, while rooftop gardens spanning up to 3.6 acres host native plantings and walking trails. They recycle 17 million gallons of water annually and generate nearly 2 million kWh/year from rooftop PV. By blending architecture, ecology, and community programming, the campus promotes collaboration, wellbeing, and environmental stewardship—establishing a new benchmark for sustainable and humane workplace environments.

Fallingwater is one of the first buildings in the world where a harmony between people, the physical and the natural environment is manifested in the design of a building. Local, site-responsive construction: On-site/nearby stone and integration with existing rock ledges reduced transport and embedded the building in its landscape. Passive comfort strategies: Deep cantilevers, expansive operable glazing, evaporative cooling from the falls, and shaded terraces contribute to microclimate and daylighting—decades before “bioclimatic design” became mainstream.Stewardship & landscape conservation: Donation to WPC in 1963 preserved both the house and the surrounding Bear Run Nature Reserve

Farming Kindergarten merges early education with ecological learning. The building wraps in a continuous triple‑ring green roof that serves as a vegetable garden and playground for the 500 children of nearby factory workers. Passive cooling and solar shading via green roofs and facades eliminate the need for air conditioning. Recycled factory wastewater irrigates the rooftop, while daylight and natural ventilation reduce energy use. Visible environmental systems educate children on sustainability, while low-cost, local materials and construction methods ensure affordability and serve as a replicable model in Vietnamese urban contexts.

Fuji Kindergarten is a celebrated example of child-centred, climate-responsive educational design. Its oval rooftop playground, encircling a courtyard of mature Zelkova trees, encourages movement, exploration, and social interaction. Classrooms open directly to the outdoors with sliding doors, promoting natural ventilation, daylighting, and a seamless indoor-outdoor connection. Minimal mechanical conditioning reduces energy use, while the open layout fosters freedom and self-directed play. The school’s design supports physical health, social development, and environmental awareness, showing how architecture can nurture young minds while reducing environmental impact in urban contexts.

GAME Streetmekka Aalborg transforms a former bus depot into an inclusive hub for street sports, art, and youth culture. The project retains the existing industrial shell to minimise embodied carbon, adding a translucent polycarbonate skin for insulation and daylight. Flexible indoor and outdoor spaces host basketball, skateboarding, dance, and music, with free access for underserved youth. The building integrates passive strategies, energy-efficient lighting, and natural ventilation, while urban landscaping connects it to the city. This adaptive reuse model reduces waste, revitalises neighbourhoods, and promotes physical activity, creativity, and social cohesion.

Glasir – Tórshavn College merges three educational institutions into one energy-efficient, socially vibrant campus. Its circular form encloses a central atrium, maximising daylight and creating a communal heart for students. The building integrates high-performance glazing, natural ventilation, and insulated façades to withstand the Faroe Islands’ harsh climate while reducing energy demand. Flexible learning spaces encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, and the atrium serves as a civic gathering place beyond school hours. This fusion of sustainable design, educational innovation, and community integration positions Glasir as a model for future-ready learning environments in remote regions.

A high-density scheme with family sized houses and flats, Riches Hawley Mikhail applied passive solar principles at a higher density than Clay Field for the Goldsmith Street international competition for 100 socially rented homes for Norwich City Council. Challenged by Norwich City Council, we achieved the full Passivhaus Certification with only minor changes to target. Changing people’s perception that Passivhaus is expensive and limiting on design, the layout of terraces with their excellent ‘form factor’ and southerly orientation enabled RHM to deliver the scheme affordably (£1825/m2 GIA), create attractive pedestrian friendly streets and provide generous windows throughout. Every home has car-free access to play.

Grand Parc Bordeaux is an award-winning retrofit of three post-war housing blocks, transforming 530 social housing units without displacing residents. The project adds winter gardens and balconies, doubled daylight access, and improves thermal comfort—while maintaining affordability. The design reduces energy use, revitalises social life, and extends the buildings' lifespan by 40+ years. Recognised by the EU Mies Award 2019, Grand Parc exemplifies climate-conscious, human-centred retrofit that respects existing communities, enhances dignity, and delivers low-carbon urban regeneration without demolition.

Green Cloud is a scalable and a low-tech roof canopy structure placed on top of existing residential buildings to introduce greenery into a densely built area of the Gangxia Village and to promote social interaction within the local community. A lightweight steel “urban mountain” installed on an old concrete roof creates a “Green Cloud”: 420+ planters with native species soak, store and slowly release rainwater, cutting runoff while turning a hard roof into a shared micro-park and outdoor classroom. The demonstrator was conceived as a low-tech, replicable sponge-city retrofit for dense urban-village roofs.

Green Solution House is a pioneering timber hotel on Bornholm, Denmark, with a deep commitment to sustainability. Constructed from prefabricated CLT panels, its modular design minimises waste, costs, and build time while showcasing natural materials inside and out. The design celebrates the carefully chosen materials throughout the building, and this is evident from the warm natural aesthetic of the timber cladding upon arrival. The design further exploits the high accuracy and repeatable process of the computer-controlled fabrication method to incorporate bespoke solutions at a much lower cost than traditional construction methods, demonstrating the benefit of a holistic design approach and the synergy between design, manufacturing, and performance.

Habitat for Orphan Girls provides safe, dignified, and culturally sensitive accommodation for orphaned girls in Afghanistan. The design incorporates courtyard housing typologies, maximising privacy, security, and communal interaction. Thick earthen walls and small, shaded openings create a naturally cool, low-energy environment, reducing reliance on mechanical systems. Locally sourced materials and labour strengthen community ownership and skills. Beyond shelter, the complex integrates education, recreation, and green spaces, supporting the girls’ personal development, mental wellbeing, and social integration. This project demonstrates how architecture can restore dignity and opportunity for vulnerable groups while minimising environmental impact.

Ilima Primary School serves as a conservation-linked educational hub in the Congo Basin. Built almost entirely with local materials—adobe bricks, hardwood shingles, and termite-mound clay—the school features two curving classroom wings connected by a canopy roof. Its passive design uses cross-ventilation, solar shading, and daylighting to ensure thermal comfort without mechanical systems. The participatory construction trained local builders and strengthened community stewardship, while doubling student capacity and supporting environmental education in this remote rainforest village.

Kalobeyei New Settlement reimagines refugee accommodation as an integrated, climate-resilient urban model. Planned collaboratively by UN-Habitat, Turkana County, and local stakeholders, it provides durable housing, shared infrastructure, and livelihoods for both displaced people and host communities. Designed for the arid climate, the settlement uses passive cooling, water harvesting, and compact urban blocks to reduce environmental impact. Communal planning processes empower residents and promote coexistence, food security, and self-reliance. Kalobeyei demonstrates how displacement responses can evolve into inclusive urban development—supporting dignity, ecological stewardship, and long-term resilience in one of Africa’s most climate-stressed regions.

La Caverne is an underground urban farm located in a former parking garage beneath a Parisian housing block. Using circular principles and vertical farming technology, the project grows organic mushrooms, endives, and microgreens year-round. It repurposes abandoned infrastructure to reduce land pressure and food miles, while creating green jobs and training for people experiencing unemployment or exclusion. Run by the social enterprise Cycloponics, La Caverne demonstrates how underutilised urban spaces can be transformed into productive, low-carbon assets that support local food systems, social cohesion, and sustainable city-making from the ground up—literally.

Laayoune Technology School, in Western Sahara’s capital city, is a model for climate-responsive, sustainable architecture in education. The campus integrates passive cooling, natural ventilation, daylighting, and energy-efficient systems to reduce environmental impact in the arid desert climate. Locally sourced materials, shaded courtyards, and green roofs enhance thermal comfort and ecological performance. Modular design enables future adaptability while maintaining low embodied carbon. These strategies support an inspiring academic environment for science and technology learners. Beyond its educational mission, the school stands as a beacon of regenerative design—demonstrating how architecture can simultaneously advance climate resilience, local identity, and human-centred innovation.

Life Reusing Posidonia is an exemplary pilot that demonstrates how vernacular methods and local materials can redefine sustainable housing. Life Reusing Posidonia created 14 social dwellings using compacted Posidonia oceanica seagrass, local recycled materials, and passive design strategies. The result: 60% lower construction CO₂ emissions, 75% lower energy use, 60% less water consumption, and 50% reduced waste. Temperatures remain comfortable year-round (21 °C winter / 26 °C summer), showing that ecological resilience and occupant wellbeing go hand in hand.

LightPathAKL, or Te Ara I Whiti (“The Lightpath”), is an iconic urban cycling and walking route repurposed from a disused motorway off-ramp in Auckland. The project combines adaptive reuse with bold design, transforming grey infrastructure into a vibrant, accessible public space. Its distinctive magenta surface, interactive lighting, and integration with broader cycling networks have catalysed a shift toward active mobility and low-carbon transport. Beyond transport, LightPathAKL enhances safety, encourages healthier lifestyles, and reclaims space for people in the urban core—showcasing how creative infrastructure can shape sustainable, inclusive cities.

Serve as a large-scale pilot to deepen understanding of natural sand transport systems and inform future coastal policies and projects. Living Seawalls enhances urban marine infrastructure by retrofitting seawalls with 3D-printed habitat panels that mimic natural shoreline microhabitats—creating crevices, pits, and refuges for marine life. Developed through collaboration between the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Reef Design Lab, UNSW, and Macquarie University, the project increased biodiversity by over 36% in Sydney Harbour, attracting 150+ species. As a finalist for the Earthshot Prize and core to the Project Restore initiative, Living Seawalls illustrates how design-led ecological interventions can transform resilient coastal cities.

Lycée Schorge redefines educational architecture in Burkina Faso through climate-smart, community-centred design. Its nine laterite-brick modules radiate around a central courtyard, shielding against dust and heat while fostering social cohesion. A secondary eucalyptus-wood façade creates shaded transitional spaces, and wind towers with perforated vaults enhance cross-ventilation and diffuse daylight. Thermal mass, local materials, and passive strategies cut energy use and improve comfort. The design deepens cultural identity, empowers local builders, and nurtures collective learning—demonstrating how place-based architecture can benefit people and planet.

Löyly redefines the Finnish public sauna as a civic and ecological experience. Its sculptural, multi-faceted pine “cloak” covers a warm-core black sauna box, integrating terraces, seating, and roof vantage points that blend with the shoreline. Built for longevity, the sauna is heated by district heating, emits low energy, and is the first FSC-certified building in Finland. Serving as sauna, restaurant, and lookout, it reinforces well-being, cultural tourism, and sustainable urban regeneration in a former industrial district—establishing itself as a local icon.

Makoko Floating School is a climate-responsive, architecturally innovative prototype designed for the lagoon community of Lagos. Its A-frame structure, made from locally sourced timber and buoyed by 256 recycled barrels, provide a resilient, modular solution to rising sea levels. Open façades maximise natural ventilation and daylight, while its three-tiered design created multifunctional spaces for learning and community use. Rooted in vernacular techniques, yet visionary in scope, the structure exemplifies low-tech, high-impact design for vulnerable environments. Though it collapsed in 2016, it remains a powerful model for sustainable architecture in flood-prone, resource-constrained contexts.

The Marine Education Centre Malmö is a single-story pavilion seamlessly integrated into Malmö’s coastal landscape. It serves as a hands-on learning environment focused on marine ecosystems and climate resilience. A continuous roof unites interior and exterior spaces—housing interactive exhibitions, floating labs, and visible eco‑systems like solar energy, water handling, and ventilation—creating a “learning landscape” that blurs architecture and nature, promoting Ocean Literacy for students, families, and policymakers.

The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) transforms disinvested land in Detroit’s North End into a thriving community farm, addressing food insecurity, stormwater management, and neighbourhood blight. Centred on a 3-acre site, the initiative supplies free produce to over 2,000 households annually, creates green jobs, and engages local youth in education and skills training. Through adaptive reuse and participatory planning, MUFI empowers residents to shape their environment, rebuild trust, and foster local pride. It exemplifies how regenerative urban agriculture can drive environmental restoration, health equity, and inclusive economic revitalisation in post-industrial communities.

Micro gardening empowers refugees to grow fresh vegetables in limited, harsh environments using recycled materials, minimal water, and locally available resources. Piloted by the FAO and partners, this initiative enhances food security, nutrition, and dignity in protracted displacement settings. Gardens are built in raised beds, vertical stacks, or containers, enabling cultivation even in arid soils and confined shelters. The project supports psychosocial wellbeing and self-reliance, especially for women and youth, while promoting climate-smart practices and biodiversity. Micro gardening proves that even the smallest interventions can yield significant social and environmental impact in crisis-affected communities. Implemented in refugee camps globally, including Kenya, Chad, Jordan, and Bangladesh

Previously polluted, channelized, and degraded—composed of wetlands, fishponds, cornfields, and garbage dumps—the site was transformed into a 90-hectare ecological park. The intervention restored the Shuicheng River’s ecology and hydrology and created a multifunctional green corridor of stunning landscape and urban revitalization. Terraced Wetlands: Designed in reference to local farming terraces using geospatial and hydrological analysis to regulate water flow and support diverse vegetation. Winding pedestrian and cycle paths, viewing platforms, pavilions, an interpretive system, and the iconic “rainbow bridge” enrich recreational and educational use.

The Mount Sinai Ambulatory Surgical Facility in Kyabirwa is a self‑sustaining, life‑saving clinic that delivers safe surgical care to rural Uganda. Its banana‑inspired solar canopy shades and powers modular brick structures housing patient reception, operating theatres, and post-op zones. Built from local bricks and materials, and relying on solar energy, rainwater harvesting, graywater recycling, and telemedicine links with Mount Sinai in New York, the prototype reduces environmental impact while improving access to surgery and training for local staff.

The Musholm Multi‑Purpose Hall revolutionizes accessible architecture by situating a circular pavilion—with a 110 m "experience ramp" spiraling up to activity platforms—at the heart of a coastal holiday resort for people with disabilities. Clad in larch and ash wood, the hall blends seamlessly with the Baltic landscape while offering inclusive features such as a climbing wall and aerial cable lift. Paired with 24 surrounding holiday homes, the project elevates social inclusion, well‑being, and tourism, demonstrating how civic infrastructure can embody dignity, community, and sustainability.

The National University of Singapore, School of Design and Environment is the first educational building in the world to achieve ‘WELL Certified’ Gold and ‘Health-Safety’ Ratings. It is also the first building in Southeast Asia to be awarded the ‘Zero Energy (ZE)’ Certification by the ‘International Living Future Institute (ILFI). A porous “platforms-and-boxes” scheme combines shaded verandas, naturally ventilated spaces (>50% of area), a hybrid cooling strategy, and a rooftop PV array (>1,200 panels) to deliver high comfort with ultra-low energy in the tropical climate. The building doubles as a living lab for operations and pedagogy.

Shougang Park transforms the former Shougang steelworks in Beijing’s city centre into a climate-positive, mixed-use urban district. Master‑planned in partnership with Arup, the redevelopment integrates green buildings, clean energy, green transport, sponge-city infrastructure, water reuse, cultural venues, sports facilities (including the Big Air Shougang ski jump), and heritage preservation within 8.63 km² of regenerated industrial land. As China’s first C40 Climate-Positive Development and an Olympic legacy site, the park sets a benchmark for sustainable post‑industrial urbanism.

Nice Écovallée is a large-scale, long-term eco-development in the Plaine du Var region, designed to transform an environmentally degraded floodplain into a model for integrated, climate-resilient urban growth. Anchored in France’s “ÉcoCité” programme, the initiative combines green infrastructure, sustainable mobility, renewable energy, and circular economy principles across housing, business, and public space. It prioritises flood risk reduction, biodiversity restoration, and low-carbon development, while stimulating the local green economy. Nice Écovallée exemplifies strategic planning that balances ecological regeneration with urban competitiveness and quality of life in a climate-sensitive Mediterranean region.

Nordhavn is a large-scale harbour redevelopment project in Copenhagen aiming to become the world’s most sustainable urban district. Built on reclaimed industrial land, the project combines high-density mixed-use development with carbon-neutral energy, active mobility networks, and circular material flows. Green roofs, harbour swimming zones, and integrated public transport—including metro and cycling superhighways—enhance liveability and reduce emissions. With over 40,000 planned residents and 40,000 jobs, Nordhavn is a scalable model for climate-resilient, future-ready cities that prioritise health, biodiversity, and low-impact urban living.

Næste offers modular shed units made entirely from recycled construction waste. Prefabricated and flexible in use—ranging from bike storage to informal teaching or gathering spaces—these high-performance shelters embody circular design logic. They showcase the tactile warmth of reclaimed materials and support local industrial ecosystems. By salvaging wood, bricks, acoustic panels, and other waste, Naeste can potentially divert up to 50,000 tonnes from incineration annually and reduce CO₂ emissions by an estimated 40,000 tonnes when widely adopted. This project efficiently demonstrates how reuse, local sourcing, and design-for-disassembly can merge sustainability with practical architectural solutions.

Melbourne’s western suburbs had a tree canopy cover of less than 10%, compared with the metropolitan average of ~18.8%. Combined with their socio-economic vulnerabilities and heightened urban heat exposure, these areas were deemed a high priority for strategic greening. Massive tree-planting initiative—part of the federal government’s 20 Million Trees Program—aims at transforming urban canopy, enhancing ecosystem connectivity, and improving liveability. This project demonstrates how targeted greening—sustained through multi-stakeholder partnerships and community engagement—can generate measurable environmental and well-being benefits at city scale. It's a replicable model for equitable urban greening pathways elsewhere.

Paley Park is a 'pocket park' designed as a "prototytpe for a new kind of public space" where city dwellers can find respite in New York City's busy life. The archetype of the modern pocket park: a simple, serene outdoor room with a 20-ft-high recirculating waterfall, a canopy of honey locust trees, ivy-clad walls, and moveable tables and wire chairs that let people “own” the space. Paley Park proved a tiny, privately funded site could deliver major public benefit and set a model for POPS worldwide.

The Circular Pavilion is a temporary structure that was built for COP21 in 2015. It was constructed repurposing existing materials to divert demolition/dismantle waste from landfill and to promote circular economy. Here, 60% of the materials used had a first life. The circular pavilion is as much a place of exhibition as an experiment built around the reuse of materials.

The Phipps Center for Sustainable Landscapes is one of the greenest buildings in the world, certified by LEED Platinum, WELL Platinum, SITES Platinum, and the Living Building Challenge. Serving as a hub for environmental education and research, it produces all of its own energy via solar and wind, treats all water on-site, and supports biodiversity through ecologically restored landscapes. As a regenerative building, it pushes beyond sustainability by actively improving its environment, exemplifying how architecture can foster human and ecological wellbeing in harmony.

The Port Sudan Paediatric Centre delivers free, high-quality healthcare to children in an underserved Red Sea community. Built using local coral limestone and shaded courtyards, it maintains cool interiors with minimal mechanical cooling, reducing energy demand in Sudan’s hot, arid climate. Passive ventilation, daylighting, and water-efficient landscaping minimise environmental impact while creating a dignified healing environment. The centre also trains local staff, promotes public health awareness, and strengthens community trust in medical services, demonstrating how climate-responsive architecture can advance social equity and resilience in fragile contexts.

R.U.M. – ReUsed Materials is a pioneering housing project that champions circular economy principles by integrating recycled materials from the construction industry into new, high-quality homes. Developed for NCC Denmark, the project showcases innovative reuse of wood, brick and other components salvaged from demolition sites. This approach significantly reduces embodied carbon while preserving material value. Designed for residents seeking sustainable living, R.U.M. also serves as a tangible demonstration for policymakers, developers, and contractors of the feasibility and beauty of circular design. The project delivers both environmental benefits and a healthier living environment, setting a benchmark for urban regeneration.

Re-establishing Fishermen Shacks supports the preservation and rehabilitation of traditional fishermen's shacks in Brazilian coastal communities—especially within extractive reserves like Prainha do Canto Verde—reinforcing cultural identity, enhancing resilience, and safeguarding livelihoods in vulnerable zones. Through community-led construction, vernacular materials, and participatory planning, the efforts reinforce informal housing while promoting environmental stewardship and social equity. The project underscores how architecture and policy can align to strengthen coastal heritage communities against climate and economic pressures.

“City in Nature” is Singapore’s national vision to embed biodiversity and climate resilience into the fabric of urban development. Anchored in long-term planning, the strategy integrates blue-green infrastructure, ecological corridors, park connectors, and biophilic urban design into a dense tropical metropolis. It expands natural habitats, mitigates urban heat, and enhances public wellbeing while supporting carbon sequestration and flood control. The initiative reflects a whole-of-government approach, aligning planning, policy, and implementation across ministries to create a regenerative city model that treats nature as essential urban infrastructure.

Built with local laterite earth, natural fibers and timber, the single-volume courtyard Sanfoka House revives Ashanti building traditions with a modern sensibility. Sloping roofs, ventilated terraces and thermal mass deliver passive climate control, while a rainwater harvesting system bolsters resilience. Developed with local artisans, the prototype challenges misconceptions about earth architecture, demonstrating how traditional materials and techniques can yield affordable, culturally rooted, and thermally efficient homes.

A flagship nature-based infrastructure intervention that turns one of Copenhagen’s busiest traffic circles into a vibrant, green, multifunctional civic space with built-in climate resilience. What was once a heavily trafficked asphalt roundabout has been transformed into a 34,900 m² green urban lung. The project integrates climate-resilient infrastructure that captures, stores, and filters rainwater using surface green systems, dramatically reducing reliance on overloaded sewers and instead turning water into a resource for lush urban nature and community space.

Sara Kulturhus in Skellefteå, Sweden, is one of the tallest timber buildings in the world and a global model of sustainable architecture. It combines a hotel, library, theatres, galleries, and cultural venues in a carbon-negative structure built entirely from locally sourced timber. Prefabricated CLT and glulam elements reduce emissions, while solar panels and geothermal energy ensure efficient, low-impact operation. The building’s design celebrates transparency, daylight, and community engagement. Warm, exposed interiors mirror the forests outside, creating a strong bond between culture and climate. Every beam and panel, crafted from regional trees, breathes with the building—absorbing, storing, and echoing the rhythm of nature. In both form and function, it is a living landmark—a cultural beacon with a wooden heart.

Share Kanazawa exemplifies a biocultural city model where heritage, biodiversity, and creative life coalesce. Designated an “SDGs Future City” and a UNESCO Creative City, its strategies include restoring historical canals for biodiversity and firefly habitats, embedding citizen science programs for urban ecological restoration, and activating traditional crafts through creative city policies. Kanazawa’s approach pioneers cultural sustainability, linking local ecosystem vitality with cultural stewardship and heritage preservation to foster resilience, identity, and inclusive urban regeneration.

“Shelter for All” is a large-scale emergency housing initiative led by architect Yasmeen Lari’s Heritage Foundation of Pakistan. It empowers flood-affected communities to build zero-carbon, flood-resilient homes using prefabricated bamboo frames, reed cladding, and mud-lime panels. Raised platforms, ventilation strategies, and rapid assembly ensure safety, affordability, and cultural resonance. Over 3,500 shelters have been built by trained villagers, promoting skills transfer and community agency. This decentralized, eco-conscious model demonstrates how vernacular architecture can lead humanitarian recovery while reducing social and environmental vulnerability. Flood-prone rural areas across Pakistan (e.g. Sindh, Balochistan)

The Skamlingsbanken Visitor Center is a discreetly embedded cultural facility located within Denmark’s highest natural point and a historic site for democratic gatherings. The building is carved into the hillside to minimise visual and ecological impact, using local materials and green roofs to blend with the landscape. It serves as a gateway to the surrounding nature and memorials, offering interpretive exhibitions on Danish democracy, nature, and landscape history. The project exemplifies a low-impact, place-sensitive design that supports education, biodiversity, and cultural heritage within a protected natural environment.

South Harbour School reimagines a school as a public urban landscape. Built on Copenhagen’s harbourfront, the terraced building blends classrooms, playgrounds, and green roofs into a continuous outdoor learning environment. Public paths weave through the site, inviting community use after school hours. The design maximises daylight, cross-ventilation, and harbour views, reducing energy demand and enriching the learning experience. Materials were selected for durability and low environmental impact. By integrating school and city, the project fosters social cohesion, promotes active play, and enhances urban resilience in a rapidly developing waterfront district.

Step Up on Fifth provides 46 permanent studio apartments for adults and transition-age youth experiencing mental health challenges and homelessness. The five-story building repurposed a parking-lot site into high-density, supportive housing with integrated social services and retail. Passive design strategies—cross-ventilation, façade screening, daylighting, and recyclable materials—deliver 50% greater energy efficiency than code requirements. Outdoor courtyards, art gallery space, and secure circulation promote community connection and mental well-being. Long-term affordability, social inclusion, and climate-smart design make it a powerful model for humane, sustainable urban housing.

Superkilen Park is an urban space designed by a multi-disciplinary team of architects, artists and landscape architects, and in collaboration with the local community. It is designed to celebrate the multi-cultural heritage of the local neighbourhood. A linear, three-part public space—Red Square, Black Market, and Green Park—that celebrates neighborhood diversity by integrating 100+ objects from 50+ countries (benches, lights, games, a Moroccan fountain, etc.). Co-created through intensive community participation (incl. resident trips to source objects), Superkilen reframes everyday urban furniture as a shared “global living room.”

Superkilen Park is an urban space designed by a multi-disciplinary team of architects, artists and landscape architects, and in collaboration with the local community. It is designed to celebrate the multi-cultural heritage of the local neighbourhood. A linear, three-part public space—Red Square, Black Market, and Green Park—that celebrates neighborhood diversity by integrating 100+ objects from 50+ countries (benches, lights, games, a Moroccan fountain, etc.). Co-created through intensive community participation (incl. resident trips to source objects), Superkilen reframes everyday urban furniture as a shared “global living room.”

The Sydney Park Water Re-use Project transformed a former industrial site into a multifunctional landscape that integrates urban water management with ecological regeneration and public amenity. Using a series of wetlands, biofiltration systems, and open channels, the design captures and treats stormwater from 250 hectares of urban catchment, supplying recycled water for irrigation and local use. The project balances engineered performance with natural processes, enhancing biodiversity, improving urban cooling, and creating immersive public spaces. It exemplifies how blue-green infrastructure can deliver climate resilience, water security, and community wellbeing in dense urban contexts.

TECLA (abbreviation of technology and clay) is a 3D-printed, prototype house made out of clay. It is designed and constructed to esepcially address housing issues in areas where natural disasters strike.

Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park is Bangkok’s first critical piece of green infrastructure explicitly designed for climate resilience. Built on a gentle 3-degree incline, the park collects, retains, and filters stormwater, reducing urban flood risk while providing vital public green space. With native vegetation, wetlands, and an underground water retention system, it captures up to one million litres of runoff. This multifunctional landscape demonstrates how public space can be leveraged to address extreme rainfall, urban heat, and ecological degradation in dense cities.

The Edge in Amsterdam is an intelligent, net-zero energy office that redefines sustainable workplace design. Powered by over 4,100 solar panels, it generates more energy than it consumes. Its smart systems continuously monitor occupancy, light, and temperature, optimising comfort and efficiency. A deep atrium maximises daylight and natural ventilation, while rainwater is harvested for sanitation and irrigation. Designed for flexibility, wellness, and circularity, The Edge integrates technology and architecture to create a living laboratory for future workplaces — one that demonstrates how data-driven design can enable both environmental performance and human wellbeing.

The Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground, completed in 2015, is a state-of-the-art educational facility that embodies principles of sustainability and environmental stewardship. The school features energy-efficient design, including solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and natural daylighting. Its green roof and rainwater harvesting system further contribute to its eco-friendly footprint. The building's innovative design not only promotes environmental responsibility but also provides a healthy and inspiring learning environment for students. With its focus on leadership and sustainability, the Kathleen Grimm School is a shining example of sustainable architecture in education.

The Light Box is a community learning and cultural centre in Pune that harnesses natural light and ventilation to create a welcoming, low-energy environment. Constructed with locally sourced brick, bamboo, and reclaimed wood, it reflects vernacular building traditions while minimising embodied carbon. Openings are carefully oriented to frame views, channel breezes, and provide diffused daylight throughout the day. The flexible interiors accommodate classes, exhibitions, and social gatherings, strengthening community bonds. By integrating climate-sensitive design with social programming, the Light Box demonstrates how architecture can empower local communities while treading lightly on the environment.

The Perret Hall project transforms a former Perret brothers’ market hall—built in 1919 and extended in 1949—into a dynamic cultural hub hosting a music school, dance school, broadcast room and recording studio. The design liberates the original concrete frame to create open, luminous interiors of generous height. The result amplifies spatial drama and cultural purpose in Montataire’s urban fabric, blending heritage conservation with inclusive public realm renewal.

RICA is a purpose-built academic institution advancing regenerative agriculture in East Africa. Located on a 1,300-hectare site, the campus integrates sustainable farming, environmental design, and hands-on learning to equip future leaders with skills in soil health, biodiversity, water conservation, and livestock management. Its buildings are designed for passive performance, solar energy use, and material circularity. Rainwater harvesting, biogas, and agroecological zoning connect learning with practice. RICA sets a new standard for climate-smart education, designed to build food sovereignty, rural resilience, and environmental regeneration in the face of climate change.

The Sensory Well-being Hub is a restorative environment designed to support neurodiverse students, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder or sensory processing differences. Using evidence-based design, the hub incorporates natural light, acoustic control, biophilic elements, and adaptable sensory zones to reduce anxiety and improve focus. Materials are low-VOC and durable, ensuring both indoor air quality and longevity. By providing a safe, calming space integrated into the school, the project enhances educational equity, mental health, and inclusion, while demonstrating how design can address diverse human needs sustainably.

The Star Homes Project transforms rural housing across 60 villages in Mtwara with 110 prefabricated, two‑storey homes built to improve health and resilience. The houses reduce embodied energy (via 70% less concrete, 37–40% less carbon) and enhance indoor comfort by 2.5 °C through passive design, screened ventilation, solar lighting, rainwater harvesting, and efficient stoves. A longitudinal health trial tracks impacts on malaria, respiratory and enteric infections in children over three years. Through local sourcing and training, the project uplifts communities, strengthens construction capacity, and embeds evidence-based climate‑sensitive housing solutions at scale.

Thread is a socio-cultural hub in rural Senegal, featuring two artist residences and studio spaces set within an inverted thatch-roof courtyard designed for passive cooling and rainwater collection. Commissioned by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and developed pro bono by Toshiko Mori Architect in partnership with local leader Dr. Magueye Ba and community organisation Le Korsa, Thread serves as a place of art, agriculture, education, and communal gathering. It supports both local and international artists, becoming a catalyst for creative exchange and resilient rural development.

Toigetation is a modular, low-cost sanitation and green infrastructure solution for rural schools in Vietnam. Combining toilet facilities with vertical gardens, the project addresses urgent hygiene needs while improving nutrition and microclimates. Built from locally available materials such as bamboo, recycled steel, and reused timber, the design is quick to assemble and affordable. Rainwater harvesting supplies handwashing and irrigation, while vegetation cools interiors and provides fresh produce. Beyond improving health and reducing absenteeism, Toigetation fosters environmental awareness and community pride, showing how small-scale design can deliver large-scale social and ecological benefits.

The Tverråa Hydropower Plant is a small-scale, 4.7 MW renewable energy station in Northern Norway. Owned by Helgeland Kraft and operational since 2018, it generates around 16 GWh annually using a 105 m hydraulic head and 5.9 m³/s flow. The facility exemplifies Norway’s approach to low-impact hydroelectric infrastructure: it is sensitively designed for the landscape and supports regional renewable energy needs with minimal ecological disruption. As part of decentralized energy systems, it contributes to energy security and climate resilience while preserving the integrity of remote natural environments.

The Vallbona project is a nature-based urban regeneration initiative reconnecting a historically isolated neighbourhood with the wider city through ecological and social infrastructure. Once divided by railways and flood-prone zones, Vallbona has been transformed through the renaturalisation of the Rec Comtal canal, creation of green corridors, and integration of pedestrian and cycling networks. The design prioritises water-sensitive urban planning, flood mitigation, and inclusive public space. It exemplifies how multifunctional green infrastructure can heal spatial fragmentation, enhance resilience, and improve urban quality of life in socio-economically marginalised districts.

The Valletta Design Cluster is a community-driven cultural and creative hub, developed through the adaptive reuse of a historic 17th-century building within Malta’s capital. Blending heritage preservation with sustainable innovation, the project features a green roof garden, natural ventilation, and the use of traditional materials in a contemporary context. It promotes circular use of space, community co-creation, and local creative economies. The design enhances social cohesion while improving urban microclimates, demonstrating how cultural regeneration can serve both environmental and civic resilience within historic city centres.

Vandvejen transforms Søndergade in Middelfart into a climate-resilient, people-friendly street that manages stormwater above ground. Designed under Realdania’s Klimaspring initiative, the road’s V-shaped profile channels rainwater into integrated canals—some open, others planted or covered—reducing sewer overload and protecting historic buildings from flooding. This visible water infrastructure doubles as a public amenity, enhancing biodiversity and microclimates. Streetscape upgrades include new paving, lighting, seating, and cycle facilities, revitalising civic life. As part of Climate City Middelfart, VANDVEJEN shows how flood protection can be integrated seamlessly into high-quality urban design, benefiting residents, visitors, and the environment.

Venligbolig Plus is an experimental housing project combining ultra-low-energy design with an innovative social model. The modular timber buildings provide affordable homes for young students and refugees, fostering intercultural exchange and mutual support. Powered by solar energy and designed for passive performance, the dwellings achieve near-zero operational emissions while maintaining healthy indoor climates. The architecture prioritises flexibility, community-building, and circular principles, using prefabricated materials that can be disassembled and reused. By linking sustainability with inclusion, Venligbolig Plus demonstrates how housing can meet both climate goals and urgent social needs through thoughtful, human-centred design.

The Wadden Sea Centre is a visitor and education hub at the gateway to Denmark’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wadden Sea. The building draws inspiration from local craft traditions and the tidal landscape, using thatch, timber, and natural clay to blend into its environment. Its low-carbon design minimises visual and ecological impact while creating immersive spaces that foster awareness of coastal ecosystems and climate vulnerability. The project exemplifies how architecture can act as both environmental steward and cultural mediator in ecologically sensitive regions.

Warka Village is a community-designed, low-impact settlement for the Pygmy community in the Congo Basin rainforest. Conceived by Italian architect Arturo Vittori and Warka Water, the village features eight Warka Houses built using local materials and traditional techniques, and three Warka Towers that capture 40–80 L of water per day from rain, dew, and fog. The village includes communal spaces, sanitation, healthcare, and solar energy systems. Handmade by local artisans with vernacular materials, it empowers cultural preservation, improves access to essentials, and models regenerative, community-rooted resilience.

Westonbirt Arboretum’s Wolfson Tree Management Centre Mess Building is a welfare building for the Westonbirt Tree Management Team. It is designed and constructed using local timber, grown and milled on-site. A low-impact, all-timber welfare building forming part of the Wolfson Tree Management Centre. The project demonstrates “grown-on-site, made-on-site” construction: unseasoned, untreated timber from the arboretum was felled, milled and used locally, with volunteers and trainees involved alongside specialist carpenters.

The Woldiya Maternity Center, designed for the NGO Doctors for Africa CUAMM, provides high-quality maternal care in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. The design uses local volcanic stone, bamboo shading, and passive ventilation to create comfortable interiors in the hot, dry climate while minimising energy demand. Courtyards and shaded walkways connect wards, providing privacy, natural light, and social spaces for patients and families. Rainwater harvesting and solar water heating reduce resource consumption. Beyond improving maternal health outcomes, the centre fosters community trust in healthcare and demonstrates how climate-responsive design can transform essential public health infrastructure.

The Women’s Opportunity Center, designed for Women International, is a community hub that empowers Rwandan women through education, entrepreneurship, and social connection. Inspired by traditional Rwandan “beehive” forms, 17 brick pavilions cluster around courtyards to create flexible spaces for training, markets, and childcare. Locally made bricks, rainwater harvesting, solar hot water, and natural ventilation reduce environmental impact while supporting local skills and livelihoods. The centre has become a catalyst for economic independence, gender equality, and community resilience, demonstrating how architecture can be a powerful tool for social and environmental transformation.

Zero is a house designed to have zero energy, zero operational carbon and zero waste. Built in a lighweight structure, it is a modular building that can expand according to end user needs. ZERO is a fully off-grid shelter designed to be assembled in ~5 days, without foundations, leaving no trace and enabling total disassembly/reuse. The system is composed of three modules—Living, Lodge (sleeping), and Service Core—arranged on a lightweight base grid; configurations are scalable and climate-tunable.

Zollhallen Plaza is a landmark mixed-use development in Freiburg that integrates climate-responsive architecture with social and environmental sustainability. The ensemble of buildings combines residential, commercial, and hospitality uses while prioritising passive design, energy efficiency, and renewable energy systems. With its timber-hybrid structure, green roofs, and daylight-optimised layouts, the project embodies Freiburg’s climate-positive urban vision. The plaza’s inclusive public realm and transit-oriented design further reinforce walkability, community cohesion, and reduced car dependence, making it a model for climate-adaptive urban regeneration.

Medellín’s groundbreaking “Social Urbanism” transformed formerly marginalized hillside neighborhoods through integrated public infrastructure—libraries, parks, schools, escalators, and cable cars—delivered directly to underserved areas. With bold investment under Mayor Sergio Fajardo, the city repurposed urban design as a tool for social inclusion, improved mobility, and civic pride. Iconic projects like escalators in Comuna 13 and landmark library-parks demonstrate how equitable infrastructure can mend social divides and create radiant, resilient communities. This model has inspired global dialogue on socially responsive urban design.