The World Architecture Festival, the world's largest international architectural event, has announced the second phase of its 2021 category winners, following weeks of intense judging in which hundreds of architectural practices from around the world presented their shortlisted projects.

The first half of this year’s category winners can be found on WAC, which was announced on 24 November. Category winners will now go head-to-head on Friday 3 December for the ultimate accolades for World Building, Interior, Future Project and Landscape of the Year. 

The winning projects have been designed by practices from countries around the world including: India, Australia, Vietnam and Denmark. 

WAF, the world’s largest annual international architectural event, will be going as a live-streamed event, from 1 to 3 December, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal. The festival is holding a sister event, titled Inside: World Festival of Interiors,  in which the same event was moved to a digital format. 

The 2021 WAF digital event will consist of three days of live conference programmes, awards, and fringe events, with talks by leading global architectural thinkers and industry personalities live-streamed exclusively to festival delegates.

The second set of category winners features leading global architecture practices, including Grimshaw, Durbach Block Jaggers and John Wardle Architects, JKMM Architects, MIA Design Studio and many more.

World Architecture Community is official Media Partner of WAF and INSIDE and will be bringing you the latest news about the festivals' speaker line-up and sessions.

Book your digital festival pass from here by entering this promo code online: WAC2020. WAC readers will receive a 20% discount over regular festival prices. 

Scroll down to see the winners in Completed and Future Projects categories at WAF 2021:

Image © Marc Goodwin

The Civic & Community – Completed Buildings category winner: JKMM Architects has won the award with the Kirkkonummi Library in Finland, a re-used existing 1980s building. 

Judges found it striking "how the new and the old elements were so well integrated that it was difficult to see where one stopped and the other started’. Judges particularly praised the ‘unexpected quirks of the original building."

Image © Martin Mischkulnig

The Culture – Completed Buildings category winner: Phoenix Central Park in Australia, a space for performing and visual arts, designed by Durbach Block Jaggers / John Wardle Architects. Judges particularly praised the "spectacular brick exterior wall" and noted the successful design collaboration.

Image © Philip Handforth

The Display – Completed Buildings category winner: Grimshaw won the award with Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion, Dubai Expo 2020. 

The judges were impressed with the creation of a Net Zero project that is a trailblazer for complex buildings approaching climate change head-on. Judges particularly highlighted the "integration of the skilful technological innovation with the subtleties of the biodiverse gardens."

Image © Andre J. Fanthome and Avesh Gaur

The Hotel & Leisure – Completed Buildings category winner: The category has been won by STUDIO LOTUS for the RAAS CHHATRASAGAR in India. 

The RAAS CHHATRASAGAR was chosen by the judges for its strong ideas and respect towards the environment and the historic dam. Judges particularly commented on "the way the pavilion and the back of house reuses already existing buildings and materials."

Image © Triệu Chiến

The House & Villa (Urban/Suburban) – Completed Building category winner: MIA Design Studio is the winner of this category with SKY HOUSE, Vietnam. 

Judges praised the quality of the shortlisted houses and selected the winning project for its "simple, elegant, and well resolved design, that successfully brings nature into the house, in the midst of a sprawling sea of high-rise urban development; a problem faced by many cities today."

Image © Diana Snape

The House & Villa (Rural/Nature) category winner: FMD Architects has won this category, scooping the award for Coopworth located in Tasmania.

Judges praised its "beautifully simplistic, agricultural rigour" and the way the project "demonstrates a symbiotic relationship with its rural context through its form, colour, visual connectivity and material palette." 

The planning of the interior spaces was also considered to be ‘‘witty and intriguing’, particularly regarding the ‘found spaces’ such as the children’s bunks and the window box seating.

Image © Sean Fennessy

The Housing – Completed Buildings category winner: John Wardle Architects triumphed in the ‘Housing – Completed Buildings’ category with Holme Apartments in Australia. 

Judges were impressed by the consideration of ‘urban scale through to finely crafted interior detail’, as well as the "skilful re-use of the existing heritage."

Image © Christopher Frederick Jones

The School – Completed Buildings category winner: Cox Architecture and ThomsonAdsett have won this category with their Fortitude Valley State Secondary College in Australia. 

Judges praised the "manmade landscape which evokes informal learning, spontaneous encounters, and play" which was reflected in the way the students were using the outdoor space of this vertical school for a variety of activities. Judges also felt that this project ‘gives a new perspective to vertical schools in an era of sustainability and Covid-19".

Future Projects

Image © Faulkner Brown Architects

The Commercial Mixed-Use – Future Projects category winner: This category has been won by Faulkner Brown Architects for Sunderland High Street West, in the UK. 

The selection of this scheme as the winning entry was a unanimous decision by all the judges. Features which commended the scheme included: "the ambitious plans by Sunderland City Council to achieve carbon-neutral status by 2040’; "the architects’ collaborative efforts with the local community’, and ‘the reuse of major structures."

Image © WAX

The Experimental – Future Projects category winner: Mei architects and planners was awarded with SAWA - a revolutionary wooden residential building in the heart of the Lloydquarter in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 

Judges felt the project goes beyond the requirements of carbon neutrality in the building process, considering the ecology of the site and nature as essential aspects of its development.

Image © FMZD

The House – Future Projects category winner: FMZD has won the ‘House – Future Projects’ category for the Shahgholi Villa in Iran. 

Judges described the project as "an elegantly conceived and presented scheme that imaginatively turns a space once occupied by an orchard into a family home which enriched conventions about privacy and intimacy."

Image © 70F architecture

The Infrastructure – Future Projects category winner: 70F architecture was victorious in the ‘Infrastructure – Future Projects’ category, winning the award for its Replant- Inclusive waste to Energy Plant and Recycling Park Concept. 

Judges praised the winning project as a "fantastic example of how waste and energy can be combined with a recycling plant to create a circular economy."

Image © Wancheng Urban Design Research Co, Ltd

The Masterplan – Future Projects category winner: The winner of the ‘Masterplan – Future Projects’ award is Wancheng Urban Design Research Co., Ltd & Value Design and Consultants Co., Ltd for Nantou Old Town Renovation Project in China. 

Judges felt the project represented "a vision for the future because of its realistic approach to the challenges that the world is facing’. Judges continued that they felt ‘this minimalist approach would transform the area without overly disturbing the inhabitants in an age where we need to minimise our carbon footprint and have an environmental responsible approach to urban regeneration."

> via WAF