Saint-Gobain - Architecture Student Contest (Edition 2025 - Nord Isère)

Our ambition at Saint-Gobain

In everything we do, we are guided by our engaging purpose: Making the world a better home. For all businesses on the construction markets, we translate our purpose into a strategic commitment and concrete actions: We Care about Building Better.

We care about building better means being at our customers’ and partners’ side to innovate and help design, construct and renovate better buildings that reduce impacts on our planet, enhance people’s health and wellbeing and deliver reduced costs and increased value; providing our customers with innovative solutions to improve their performance and support their journey towards more sustainability; advocating for building better to accelerate the market transformation.

Thanks to our 350-year-long history and the synergies between our different businesses, specialist brands and skills, we want to demonstrate our thought leadership and be the preferred partner who cares about building better.

Contest Presentation

We believe buildings can and should deliver both improved performance and sustainability. We care about maximizing health and wellbeing for everyone, everywhere – while minimizing impact on the environment over a building’s lifespan.

Universities are preparing future generations, and students are already building the future. Together we can build it better. 

The objective of the Architecture Student Contest is to develop a project based on sustainability, both for people and the planet. The buildings will be highly energy-efficient, low-carbon, and provide a comfortable environment for their occupants, in order to create better living, working and leisure spaces everywhere.

How does it work?

Every year Saint-Gobain selects a country with an architectural challenge and works very close with the local municipality to develop a task that will address real social and cultural issues. Students from different universities all around the world are bringing up their best ideas  to compete and win one of the prizes of this international contest.

1. National Stage
   Competition against other students from universities of the same country. The best project will travel and compete in the international stage.
2. International Stage
   A 3-day event for winners of National Stages compete against each other with the same contest task, where the following activities take place: welcome ceremony, jury deliberation, city tour, feedback sessions, awards ceremony and gala dinner.

Chimilin & Villefontaine - Contest Task 2025

For the 20th edition, the Contest Task covers to sites: Chimilin for the renovation, and Les Grands Ateliers for the new construction. Discover the Contest Task in images by watching these videos. Read the description of the competition task to find out more about the places, the requirements and the judging criteria for the Architecture Student Contest 2025.

THE CONTEST TASK - GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The task of the 19th edition of the international student competition organized by Saint-Gobain Group in close cooperation with Helsinki University and the City of Helsinki is to develop a residential area (for citizens, and researchers) in an area located near the Viikki research Farm and Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Helsinki University is the property owner of the contest task area and has commissioned Helsinki City to provide a development plan for the coming years.

Participants in the competition should propose a vision for the area, considering both the natural characteristics of the location, and the expectations of students and researchers living and visiting this area. The project involves the renovation of an existing building, which will be used to host researchers, as well as the construction of a new residential building. The proposal should also consider the link to the Gardenia (current tenant is a craft brewery by CooHead Brew) building and its Japanese garden, and the exterior spaces activities as the old farm museum will be demolished. The project must be innovative and sustainable and comply with the technical guidelines prepared by Saint-Gobain.