The new campus for environmental studies in Acatitlán, 140 km west of Mexico City will trigger a local regeneration process, reinforcing communities throughout the region. The project’s design for the Universidad del Medio Ambiente is locally attuned, self-sufficient regarding energy and water, promotes on-site food production, and will be realized with low-impact materials to minimize the architecture’s ecological footprint.

Rather than promoting efficiency for efficiency’s sake, the authors frame the university curriculum based on local knowledge: “It’s not about the campus, it’s about a community.” Erected in three phases, the buildings are organized around a series of courtyards. Construction assemblies include stone foundations, wooden structures and wall finishes made of soil. The result is a sustainable and regenerative project, a “living classroom” that could readily be replicated.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

Oscar Hagerman of the Universidad del Medio Ambiente in Mexico City views the most sustainable characteristic of “Rural Campus” is that it was made by a team for professionals who can give an answer to the needs of the people and nature. The “University campus for community regeneration” in  create a university campus in a rural context, a campus dedicated to the tenets of sustainable development, both in terms of the university curriculum – the environment being at the core of teaching and research – and the campus design according to state of the art ecological principles.

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The 12 winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for Latin America focus mainly on adaptability and social performance, and show how sustainable construction is developing multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing design and building. A public park above a series of reservoirs in Medellín, a low-impact timber rainforest center in Costa Rica and a pedagogically-aligned school in Mexico were awarded gold, silver and bronze.

The jury greatly values the intention to create a university campus in a rural context, a campus dedicated to the tenets of sustainable development, both in terms of the university curriculum – the environment being at the core of teaching and research – and the campus design according to state of the art ecological principles. The project offers an excellent example of how to act locally, and concurrently thinking globally, fostering regional benefits and cultural exchange, while combining social, economic and environmental regeneration with long-term objectives.

The new campus for environmental studies in Acatitlán, 140km west of Mexico City will trigger a local regeneration process, reinforcing communities throughout the region. The project’s design for the Universidad del Medio Ambiente is locally attuned, self-sufficient regarding energy and water, promotes on-site food production, and will be realized with low-impact materials to minimize the architecture’s ecological footprint. Rather than promoting efficiency for efficiency’s sake, the authors frame the university curriculum based on local knowledge: “It’s not about the campus, it’s about a community”.