22.01.2026

AHI Architecture Award 2025 – Europe’s building culture as a mirror of the present

Building design

The winning projects of the AHI Architecture Award 2025 show Europe's innovative approach to building culture, urban planning and architectural heritage. Photo: Architectural Heritage Intervention

The AHI Architecture Award 2025 is once again positioning itself as an important European benchmark for quality, innovation and responsibility in dealing with built heritage. At a time of increasing ecological and social challenges, the award shows how the transformation of existing architecture is becoming a strategic instrument of spatial production – and why building culture in the 21st century is far more than just aesthetic or historical maintenance.

With a focus on interventions in existing historical buildings, public urban spaces, planning strategies and cultural mediation, the AHI Architecture Award 2025 offers a panorama of positions that locates European architectural practice between preservation, conversion and public added value. The award-winning projects from Belgium, Spain, Greece and Italy exemplify how regional identity, architectural heritage and contemporary requirements can be combined to create future-oriented designs.

The AHI Architecture Award 2025 was presented in Barcelona in June – traditionally at the place where it was founded. Since 2011, the initiative has seen itself as a European platform for the promotion of architectural quality in dealing with historical contexts. What began as a Catalan project has now established itself as a continent-wide forum for discussion and best practice.

In the current edition, a total of 238 projects from 24 countries were submitted. They document a cross-disciplinary examination of building on existing buildings: not only on a material level, but also on a social, cultural and planning level. The AHI Architecture Award 2025 recognizes not only spectacular renovations, but also subtle reinterpretations, long-term development strategies and formats of cultural mediation.

The major role played by public clients is striking. Almost all of the award-winning projects were initiated by cities, regions or state institutions. This illustrates the growing responsibility of the public sector with regard to the preservation, activation and reinterpretation of building culture.

Built Heritage” category: Transformation in Antwerp

In the Built Heritage category, an intervention on a medieval building ensemble in Antwerp, Belgium, received an award. The project impresses with its clear attitude to the historical substance and the architectural quality of the new elements. The aim was not to preserve history as a museum, but to transform it into an active, publicly accessible place. The historic structure was precisely restored, while a new building functions as a self-confident but respectful addition. The AHI Architecture Award 2025 recognizes not only technical competence, but also conceptual clarity.

“Exterior Spaces” category: urban space as a social sounding board

In the Exterior Spaces category, a public square in the Spanish city of Olot was reinterpreted. The design is based on a subtle understanding of the existing topography and historical structure. The aim of the intervention was not a spectacular redesign, but the quiet restoration of a place for the urban collective. The design creates spaces for encounters, play and contemplative use – without detracting from the historical weight of the site. In the spirit of the AHI Architecture Award 2025, the project is an example of how contemporary design can enter into a productive dialog with existing history.

“Urban Planning” category: Between antiquity and modernity

The award in the Urban Planning category went to a master plan project for ancient Corinth in Greece. It aims to create an integrative link between the archaeological site and today’s urban structure. The planning not only takes conservation aspects into account, but also sees the site as an active part of a contemporary urban landscape. The AHI Architecture Award 2025 thus emphasizes that sustainable urban development is inconceivable without cultural and historical continuity.

“Dissemination” category: mediation as an architectural practice

The Dissemination category was awarded to a publication dedicated to the documentary processing of ruins and traces of historical architecture. The combination of cartography, photography and text creates a multimedia work that appeals to both professionals and interested laypeople. The jury of the AHI Architecture Award 2025 thus recognizes the growing importance of mediation work within architecture – as a bridge between the professional world and society.

In addition to the main categories, the AHI Architecture Award 2025 also presents two special awards. The first – as part of the New European Bauhaus initiative – went to a project in Belgium that transforms a former industrial plant into a participatory center for circular economy and social participation. The second – a Restoration Special Mention – went to Italy for the methodical and consistent restoration of a medieval bell tower. Both projects set new standards in dealing with existing structures: ecologically, functionally and socially.

These special prizes make it clear that the discussion about building culture increasingly includes issues of participation, inclusion and sustainability. The AHI Architecture Award 2025 thus shows that architecture in existing buildings is more than mere maintenance – it is a tool for actively shaping society.

A special feature of the AHI is its digital archive, which now documents more than 1400 projects from over thirty countries. It functions not only as a reference work, but also as a living repository of knowledge on European conversion culture. For architects, conservationists, city administrations and teachers, the archive offers a valuable resource for reference, inspiration and international comparability.

The AHI Architecture Award 2025 gives this collection new impetus and contributes to further sharpening the understanding of architecture as a socially relevant practice. The focus is not on spectacular large-scale projects, but on the careful, intelligent and long-term handling of existing buildings.

The AHI Architecture Award 2025 conveys a clear picture: the future of building does not lie in radical new construction, but in the creative use of what already exists. The award-winning projects show that historical substance is not an obstacle, but a resource – for cultural identity, ecological sustainability and social innovation.

Whether urban square, cultural building, master plan or book publication – they are all united by the claim to understand architecture as an open, integrating discipline. The prize thus functions not only as an award, but also as a source of inspiration, an archive and a European voice for architectural quality.

In times of resource scarcity, climate crisis and growing social fragmentation, the AHI Architecture Award 2025 offers convincing answers to central questions of our built environment. And reminds us that the past is not a thing of the past – but an active part of the architecture of tomorrow.

20.01.2025

Orijins Café in Dubai by VSHD-Design

Building design

The Orijins Café in Dubai brings the atmosphere of the desert into the city. Photo: Oculis Project

Organic shapes and minimalist design form a convincing unit in the Orijins Café by VSHD-Design. Dubai’s financial district is thus given a haven of peace that brings the atmosphere of the desert into the city.

Wabi Sabi is the Japanese idea that beauty can be found in every aspect of nature’s imperfection. You might not expect a particularly strong connection to nature in Dubai, the land of glass skyscrapers. For the interior designers at VSHD-Design, however, one thing is certain: nature is divine.

Nature as inspiration in the Orijins café

The imperfection of nature provides the award-winning interior designers with inspiration for the “Orijins” café. Nature takes the lead. The new coffee shop, for which visitors are now queuing, is located at street level in the Dubai International Financial Center. At first glance, its simplicity is striking. Incident daylight creates various shadows in the approximately 100 square meter café. Calm, soft natural tones allow the eye to glide over the curved and organic shapes, to be still, to pause. This was precisely the aim of lead designer Rania M. Hamed: to find beauty in everyday life, even if it is not perfect.

Calm through contrasts

The Orijins Café also combines many contrasts. Upon entering, the large, uneven marble blocks catch the eye. Slender light metal furniture creates a contrast to the subtly curved ceiling. Brushed aluminum contrasts with muted colors. VSHD’s designers are known for style and functionality as well as quality and attention to detail. Simple shapes and luxurious materials are also harmoniously combined. The contrasts in particular create a calm overall mood.

A handful of stones from the Red Sea

For example, the interior design is deliberately minimalist in order to give space to natural elements and soft colors. For the designers at VSHD-Design, everything revolves around getting back to the origins of things. The aim is to create an environment that is as close to nature as possible. A handful of stones from the Red Sea beach provided the inspiration for the project. Visitors should feel the serenity and tranquillity of sitting on a stone by the sea or in the sand of the desert.

But Dubai cannot be imagined without innovation: the seven marble blocks that make up the coffee bar were first sketched by hand, then converted into 3D models and then fed into a CNC machine. This then created abstract shapes. In this way, man and machine create artificial rocks that feel as if they have been shaped by nature itself.

Orijins-Café: playing with the light

The natural light falls gently on the lightly tinted walls. The changing incidence of light over the course of the day also subtly highlights their structure. The natural light is also supported by artificial light. For example, a fine LED strip gently emphasizes the curved lines of the ceiling.

The marble bar is illuminated by a discreet spotlight that blends into the ceiling like a star. The other light sources have also been carefully selected. The team led by lead designer Rania M. Hamed created a new wall light especially for this café. Made of brushed aluminum, the luminaire’s abstract shapes are reminiscent of reeds.

Subtle luxury

For all its artistry, no element in Orijins draws too much attention to itself. The wall lamp is discreetly decorative. The metals used are kept sleek. The contrasts created by the mix of different materials are balanced out by a uniform color palette. Gentle and soft textiles such as fur, boucle and coarsely woven fabrics create a counterbalance to the coarseness of the stone or the coldness of the metal. Once again, the opaque yet soft natural tones with only minimal color contrast act as a bracket. The subtle luxury radiates calm and understated elegance.

The interior design of a restaurant in Stuttgart has also been reinterpreted. A special pub chair plays a decisive role here.

22.10.2024

#KitchenInspiration

A pink corner

Building design

Neuhāusl Hunal Architects have created a pink corner in a small first floor apartment in Prague. The founder of Studio U/U commissioned the office to redesign the apartment. In one room, the kitchen dominates together with a multifunctional podium that serves as a bed, storage room, library, changing room and bench. With its pink color, it is the highlight and invites you to cook!

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