Sustainable projects make shortlist for contemporary architecture prize

Projects by tenderstream members Dorte Mandup A/S and Neutelings Riedijk Architects are in the running for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have announced 40 shortlisted works that will compete for the prize, which is usually awarded biennially to works completed within the previous two years. The current award includes works completed over the past 2.5 years, and is the largest edition held so far, with 532 projects nominated overall.

Dorte Mandrup A/S reached the shortlist with The Wadden Sea Centre in Denmark, a visitors’ centre located in Europe’s largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats. The project was initiated to provide a new facility that would not just act as a focal point, but provide the start of a journey into the surrounding landscape. Emerging from the flat coastal marshland in a synergy of nature, art, and architecture, the centre creates awareness of an important UNESCO-protected wetland and contributes to the area’s sustainable development. In combination with 3400 meter of geothermal heat and 120 solar panels hidden on the roof, the careful choice of materials and sustainable construction methods ensure the centre’s status as a passive house. The building mainly consists of lightweight wooden panels and locally harvested reeds. 

The Gare Maritime project in Brussels by Neutelings Riedijk Architects regenerated a monumental freight station into a covered city district, a ‘city where it never rains’. Once Europe’s largest goods railway station, Gare Maritime is now a place for companies to relocate, ranging from start-ups to renowned brands, all surrounding a public space. A green walking boulevard around the public area leaves enough room for ten spacious inner gardens. Entirely energy neutral and fossil free, the design features a total area of 17,000 sq m of solar panels on the roof, with glass facades onto the street provided with solar cells. The building is the largest Cross Laminated Timber project in Europe: in concrete, the structure would have been five times heavier. 

European Union Commissioner Mrs. Mariya Gabriel, said: “Rethinking the way we are building is a must. High-quality architecture is a cornerstone of the European Commission’s approach to sustainability. In redefining European architects’ role as caregivers, architecture contributes to the European Green deal and its cultural component: the “New European Bauhaus.”

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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