On 24 November 2023, arc-en-rêve architecture centre and the Basque Country Institute of Architecture launched the first edition of the European Collective Housing Award, supported by the Basque Government's Department of Spatial Planning, Housing and Transport, the Mugak Basque Country Architecture Biennial and an advisory committee. Open to more than 40 countries, the prize aims to reward projects that, through an innovative approach, highlight values that are essential to building our models of society, such as the right to housing and the notion of sharing within densely populated areas. The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday 20 June 2024, at arc en rêve (Bordeaux, France). Here are the winners.

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The winners, selected from 171 entries from 19 European countries, are entered in two categories, ‘renovation’ and ‘new construction’. The jury, chaired by architect and Pritzker Prize winner Anne Lacaton, was made up of Kristiaan Borret, professor of urban planning at Ghent University and bouwmeester maître-architecte (BMA) of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium), Emanuele Coccia (Italy), author and associate professor at EHESS (Paris, France), Fernanda Canales (Mexico), architect and founder of Fernanda Canales Arquitectura, and Christian Hadaller (Germany), architect and co-founder of the KOOPERATIVE GROSSSTADT eG initiative.

Esch Sintzel Architekten — Winners in the ‘renovation’ category, best collective housing project

Completed in 203 in Basel (Switzerland), the project by Esch Sintzel Architekten involves the conversion of a former wine storehouse into a residential complex. Comprising 64 flats, a café-bar, commercial premises, shared rooms and communal areas, the building is governed by a system of internal streets, giving it the character of an urban microcosm. The architects chose to preserve the concrete structure and the old pillars, in order to highlight these ‘real witnesses to the building’s history’.

‘This project demonstrates that even quite ordinary functional buildings can be of great value, and can be the basis for innovative projects that add value to the district and the city,’ said the jury.

Project La Borda — Winner in the ‘new construction’ category, best collective housing project

La Borda, a housing cooperative, was built with a priority shared by the Lacol team and the cooperative: to create a building with the lowest possible environmental impact. Part of Barcelona’s social housing stock, the building, completed in 2018, comprises 28 homes as well as communal areas, all arranged around a central courtyard.

For the members of the jury: ‘The ambition goes beyond the scale of the building and is part of a bottom-up process of regeneration for the whole district. The project concept offers a new way of thinking about living together.’

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For more informations : europeancollectivehousingaward.eu

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Lacol Arquitectura Cooperativa was one of the offices selected by the editors of L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui in their ‘Europe, New Generation’ issue, and Esch Sintzel Architekten's project was among those featured in the ‘Tomorrow's Cities’ issue. Available on our online shop.