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The European Collective Housing Award is an initiative based in San Sebastián, Spain, organized jointly by the Basque Country Architecture Institute and arc en rêve centre d’architecture from Bordeaux, in collaboration with the Basque Government’s Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport. The award was established to recognize and promote collective housing projects that have a tangible positive impact on communities and encourage sustainable urban development.
The inaugural award, whose jury was chaired by renowned architect Anne Lacaton, took place at the Basque Country Architecture Institute in May 2024. The jury selected winners from 171 entries submitted from 19 European countries. The winning projects included the conversion of a former wine warehouse in Basel, Switzerland, by Esch Sintzel Architekten—awarded for its approach to transforming existing structures for new housing quality—and La Borda in Barcelona, Spain, a timber-framed cooperative housing project by Lacol, commended for integrating social and environmental priorities and serving as Spain’s tallest building with a wooden structure.
The award aims to function as a platform to showcase architectural achievements, foster dialogue among professionals, and inspire further innovation in European collective housing. Its scope extends across 46 Council of Europe countries, focusing on projects that demonstrate excellence in social awareness, context integration, innovation, inclusion, and environmental responsibility. The initiative foregrounds the importance of housing as a social asset and encourages innovation beyond market-driven or conventional public sector models.