The Blue House Prize is an initiative of the Foundation for Future Generations, a non-profit organisation founded in 1998 and committed to innovation in the field of sustainable development through grants and citizen participation. The foundation also operates as a think tank, bringing together public, business and non-profit sectors.

The Blue House Prize was conceived to stimulate the construction of sustainable housing or the renovation of existing housing according to the principles of sustainability. According to foundation director Benoit Deremme, those can be summed up with the four Ps: people, planet, prosperity and participation. That includes concern for the health and welfare of residents, energy and water economy, use of space, biodiversity, contribution to the local economy and employment situation and involvement of residents and locals at every step.

L’Espoir is a two-storey block of houses built using wood and other ecological materials on a plot of land measuring only 1,200 square metres in the heart of Molenbeek, one of Brussels’ most disadvantaged municipalities.

The project was a collective operation from the start: Families housed in less salubrious conditions approached the local association Bonnevie with the idea, and the land was sold by Molenbeek council at a democratic price. Carnoy, an architect who often works with wood and other natural materials, signed on for the design, which had to take account of the limited budget of the residents and the need for a building that was 100% passive: In other words, it must meet rigorous standards for energy efficiency.

According to the prize jury, co-chaired by scenographer and urban visionary François Schuiten and former Flemish government architect Bob Van Reeth (who also designed the new Holocaust museum featured on this week’s front page), the project “demonstrates magnificently that sustainable housing can be accessible to people with social and financial difficulties. By involving the residents at every phase of the operation, this exemplary project has allowed 14 families to realise the dream of owning their own homes.”

The winning project was one of 27 submitted for the prize, a field whittled down by the professional jury to four nominees. The others were:

The Comptoir Sucrier in Antwerp North, a former grain and sugar store converted by brothers Nico and Carl Verdickt into “a little village in the city” – a collective including two office spaces and 11 homes, from luxury lofts to student bedsits in a disadvantaged part of town. The living and working space also includes common social areas grouped around a shared courtyard in what used to be the industrial and loading area of the complex.

The Black House in Leffinge near Ostend, a minimalist construction built adjacent to the owner’s parents’ house, after he lost his original home in a fire. Local architect Rien Rossey built a striking passive house using local wood and salvaged materials and even managed, using angled solar panels, to give the 120 square-metre house a south-facing roof. The jury described the Black House as “simple and timeless” as well as “easily reproducible”.

The LAR house in La Roche-en- Ardenne in Wallonia consisted only of the shell of a 100-year-old house built in local slate of which only the walls remained. The ruin was converted by architect David Henquinet into a holiday and rental property for owner Yolande Bastogne. The jury said it was impressed most of all by the house’s simplicity, a function of the property’s limited space – only 90 square metres – and the owner’s restricted budget.

The winner takes away €5,000 and all four nominees receive an award designed by the Brussels-born Catalan artist Manu vb Tintoré. The Blue House Prize is supported by the government of Flanders, the other two regional governments and the federal government.

www.bluehouseprize.be