The prize, sponsored by GreenCoat, is part of the World Architectural Fesitival’s (WAF) 10th anniversary celebrations, with the 2017 event set to take place next month. WAF has also commissioned extensive research to find out the critical challenges facing architects over the next decade.

The research found that four in 10 architects believe climate change to be the single biggest challenge facing the industry in the next 10 years, with construction and operation of buildings consuming large amounts of energy. The costs associated with sustainable design were flagged as a grave concern for many respondents, as architects can only design for better sustainability outcomes if clients are prepared to budget. The second biggest challenge facing architects was found to be ‘designing for social equity’, with architects from across the globe concerned that architecture is becoming the preserve of societal poles: the wealthy who can afford the cost and the very poor, via state funding.

The WAFX Prize focuses on such challenges and others that span a diverse range of topic areas, including: climate, energy and carbon; water; ageing and health; re-use; smart cities; building technology; cultural identity; ethics; and power and justice.

The Hydroelectric Canal by Paul Lukez Architecture (PLA) was selected as the overall winner, as well as winner of the Climate, Energy & Carbon prize, for its innovative approach to shaping economic and environmentally resilient self-sustaining communities. Working with a multidisciplinary team, the PLA scheme is aiming to harness the energy from rising tides in low-lying urban communities, which will be able to draw clean energy through advanced hydroelectric systems that generate power from the tidal changes.

Winner of the Water prize was Floating Ponds by Surbana Jurong Consultants. This project’s systemic integration of water, nutrients and energy leads to a concept that enables the creation of a self-sustained and closed loop farming eco-system. Floating Ponds omits the traditional dependency on land and will enable rapidly expanding and densifying cities to build resilience through a creative use of space and water. 

Södra Skanstull by White Arkitekter came out on top in the ageing and health category. The new masterplan for Sodra Skanstull, an area located in the south of Stockholm, was the the topic of a fascinating presentation just last week at Healthy City Design International 2017, in London. The focal point of the scheme is a new diagonal boulevard for pedestrians and cyclists, which makes use of an old railway route, and improves public movement through the area. White’s proposal shows how creating walkability is at the heart of building a people centred sustainable city of the future.

Energie und Zukunftsspeicher im Energiepark Heidelberg by LAVA Berlin received the Building Technology prize. This animated energy tower reinvents a 1950s’ tank typology into a hub of sustainability – both a renewable energy storage and an educational destination for renewable energy. The external façade is animated by more than 20,000 diamond shaped steel plates, the number of moving plates will indicate the number of households supplied by the renewable energy stored in the tower.

The organisers awarded the Smart Cities prize to three distinct entries: Media City by Gad Architecture; Oresund City – a new European metropolis by 2030 by Sweco Architects AB; and Jakarta Jaya: The Green Manhattan by SHAU. Media City promises to be a vibrant and engaging habitat where people can witness the design, production and application of virtual reality and multimedia products, as well as acting as a beacon for future smart city strategies. Sweco Architects’ entry is based on the vision of using a new archipelago to join Copenhagen and Malmo to form an entirely new city: Oresund City. And Jakarta Jaya: The Green Manhattan by SHAU is a proposal for a combination of ecological and social projects to form one sustainable city at Jakarta Bay.

Other winners include:

• Ethics prize – Whitmore Community Food Hub Complex: building community around food by University of Arkansas Community Design Center;
• Cultural identity prize – Lagos's Wooden Tower by Hermann Kamte & Associates;
• Re-use prize – I love Nydalen by SAAHA AS; and
• Power and justice – Revolution 4.0 by Abdullah Ahmed N Al Dabbous.

The winners will be presented with their awards at the gala dinner, hosted in the Postbahnhof in Berlin on 17 November.