«Constructive Alps» prizes are being awarded for the fifth time in 2020 for renovations and new builds in the Alps that represent the best blend of climate-friendly construction and Baukultur. Through the international architecture prize, the Alpine countries brought together under the Alpine Convention (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia and Switzerland) are contributing to the accomplishment of their climate-related targets.

In four videoconferences held over three days, the eight-person jury shortlisted 28 out of 328 constructions. In addition to residential houses and commercial buildings, they also include mountain inns, a chapel, kindergartens and cultural centres – 11 renovations, one new construction to replace an old structure, as well as 16 new buildings. Jury President Köbi Gantenbein remarks with satisfaction: «The jury is delighted with the 28 pearls of architecture, which translate confidence in the economic and social fabric of rural Alpine regions into purposeful and climate-smart architecture.»

Almost a third of the projects are in Switzerland

Nine projects in Switzerland made it to the shortlist, including the agricultural centre in Salez in the Rhine Valley, the Casa Mosogno in the municipality of Onsernone in Ticino, the Ortstockhaus mountain inn in Glarus and the St Ursula communal residence in Brig. The jury will now conduct on-site inspections of the 28 shortlisted buildings at locations reaching from Slovenia to France, and will also talk with the builders, architectural offices and users.

In addition to the climate friendliness of buildings as measured by key energy indicators and the grey energy consumed in their construction, the jury’s decision also takes account of their contribution to future-oriented living and economic activities in the Alps.
On 6 November the prize money will be handed to three awardees and the catalogue and exhibition inaugurated at the Swiss Alpine Museum in Berne. As is customary, the exhibition will then become a travelling exhibition showcasing sustainable construction in the Alps. It will tour from Ljubljana to Nice.

Sustainable Alpine buildings selected for architecture prize