These are the Winners of the Built by Nature Prize 2025
London, UK We are proud to reveal the six winning projects and six commended buildings of the Built by Nature Prize 2025, our global award celebrating excellence in responsible timber construction. These projects represent the cutting edge of sustainable design, demonstrating how timber can help create a built environment in harmony with nature.
See All Winners and Commendations
About the Prize
The Built by Nature Prize 2025 celebrates the projects and people accelerating the global shift towards timber and bio-based construction. Open for entries over two months earlier this year, the Prize attracted nearly 400 applications from 39 countries and jurisdictions, spanning a wide range of building types, from housing and education to workplaces, infrastructure, and industrial facilities.
All entries were assessed against the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction, a global framework designed to ensure that growing demand for timber is met with environmental and social responsibility. Endorsed by over 260 leading global organisations – including Stora Enso, FSC International, and the Costa Rican government – the Principles will be presented at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
To score highly, applicants were required to submit detailed information on construction materials, embodied carbon, certification, and reuse strategies. Projects were evaluated across all five principles:
1. Extending the life of existing buildings,
2. Accounting for whole life cycle,
3. Ensuring sustainable forest management,
4. Maximising the carbon storage potential of wood, and
5. Promoting a timber building bioeconomy.
The six winning buildings were selected from a shortlist of 28 projects, following a rigorous two-stage process involving independent assessors and an international panel of judges:
- Ana Belizário, Commercial Head of Urbem
- Joelle Chen, Head of Sustainability, Asia Pacific for LaSalle
- Mae-ling Lokko, Assistant Professor at Yale University’s School of Architecture and Yale’s Center for Ecosystems in Architecture
- Kevin McCloud, Architect and Host of Grand Designs
- Gert-Jan Nabuurs, Professor of European Forest Resources at Wageningen University
- Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Global Leader of Climate & Energy at WWF and Interim Chair of the IUCN Climate Crisis Commission
- Maureen Whelan, Manager of Multilateral Affairs for the Canadian Forest Service
Our Future: A New Film by Open Planet Studios
The six winners form the core of a new film, Our Future: Built by Nature, a new documentary by Open Planet Studios. The film follows the six winning projects and the value chains behind them to understand how change can be achieved in a sector responsible for nearly 40% of global emissions.
Our Future asks a single question: how can our homes, and the way we build them, become a key to solving the climate crisis? Narrated by Kevin McCloud, the film features global perspectives and includes appearances by Sir David Attenborough and COP30 President Marina Silva. The film will be screened at the Museum of Art in São Paulo (MASP) on 8 November and officially premiere later that month at COP30 in Belém.
Award Winners
The Black and White Building – UK
Circular and Biobased Two Bedroom Home – Uganda
La Maison de la réserve écologique – France
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services HQ – Australia
Commended Projects
Automated Wooden High Bay Warehouse – Italy
Composite Bamboo Shear Walls – El Salvador
Durley Chine Environmental Hub – UK
Spotlight
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