Lafarge
Africa has strengthened its commitment to quality and sustainable building as
it announced the sixth edition of its 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards
for Sustainable Construction.
This is
as the world counts down to the 2030 United Nations’ projection for sustainable
cities.
To this
effect, the firm said that it had started accepting entries for the award from
qualified professionals.
According
to the company, the LafargeHolcim Awards recognises and rewards innovative
projects and bold ideas from professionals and students respectively that seek
to address sustainability in construction.
Public
Affairs and Sustainable Development Director, for Lafarge Africa, Folashade
Ambrose-Medebem, stated that the award was open to eligible engineers,
architects, builders, planners, construction firms, project owners, students
and non-governmental organisations working in the building industry.
Encouraging
qualified Nigerians to enter for the award, she said: “Our aspiration is
for Nigeria to be well represented across the Middle East and Africa region. We
are hopeful that more Nigerians would be encouraged by the success stories of
others who have been recognised in past editions of the award, the likes of
Nigerian-born Kunle Adeyemi.
“In
2014, Adeyemi won an Acknowledgement Prize for Chicoco Radio Media Center; the
amphibious building in Delta City of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Such ambitious
and creative entries are what we seek again to put Nigeria on the world map of
sustainable construction. We sincerely hope that our professionals and students
will seize this opportunity”.
Lauding
the initiative, immediate past President of the Nigerian Institute of
Architects, Tonye Braide, noted that the award was apt considering the growing
population and urbanisation rate in Nigeria.
He
further added: “The process of evaluation is both fair and transparent.
With the credibility of the award sponsor, I believe that quality will not be
compromised. Such transparency is what you get when you have independent
experts as juries from across the world; Europe, North America, Latin America,
Middle East Africa and Asia Pacific, are coming together to evaluate and select
outstanding entries”.
Sustainable
Development and Corporate Brand Manager of the company, Ms. Titilope Oguntuga,
gave the criteria of the award as innovation and transferability, ethical
standards and social inclusion, resource and environmental performance,
economic viability and compatibility as well as contextual and aesthetic
impact.
“Entries for the LafargeHolcim Awards will close on February 25, 2020. The regional jury evaluation will take place between June and July 2020 , while regional winners will be announced in November 2020,” Oguntuga added.https://allafrica.com/stories/201908240100.html
