Winning Designs for World Sustainability Centre Afsluitdijk

Earlier this year, on Earth Day, April 22, the Dutch Sustainability Centre Foundation, in collaboration with Delft University of Technology and the Cartesius Institute, launched an international ideas competition for a public center that highlights innovative techniques in the field of water, sustainable energy and nature and is housed in an innovative and high-profile building.

The ambition of the competition organizer, in concordance with the Dutch Ministry of Transport, is to turn the Afsluitdijk – the great historic dike that has been preventing floods in the North of the Netherlands for 75 years now – into an icon of sustainability. The border between freshwater and saltwater, the location between the Wadden Sea – which will acquire World Heritage status – and Lake IJssel all combine to make the Afsluitdijk a remarkable location. The World Sustainability Centre Afsluitdijk is excellently situated near this outstanding hydraulic monument: the most famous dike of them all.

The competition resulted in 80 design proposals, which, according to the expert report, contained a wealth of information, inspiring ideas and creative solutions. The jury decided to award two joint first prize winners who will share the prize money available for first and second prize combined and divided equally between both winners.

“The jury hopes that decisions on the World Sustainability Centre Afsluitdijk will be based on the understanding that strong architectural statements can act like narcotics which have only a short-term effect,” summarizes the jury report. “Even if a high-profile building has to be made, it should be a building that can make a lasting positive contribution. Moreover, the jury wants to repeat a remark made by the winner of the fourth prize: ‘The most sustainable solution is not to build.’ This is a sobering statement. It underlines the need for a critical approach in further developing the ideas brough forward in this competition.”

This is a selection of the boards of the five winners and one honorable mention: