Jena façade prize awarded with special prize for energy efficiency

The winners of the Jena Façade Award 2023 and the Special Award for Energy Efficiency have been announced. The main prize (without prize money) goes to a public building for the first time this year. The Helmholtz Institute building at Fraunhofer Strasse 8 impressed the jury with its successful exterior design, the high quality of the materials, the urban figure and the use of various design elements in the façade.

"The façade prize has been an important component of Jena's building culture for more than 30 years now. It encourages developers and architects to pay attention to structural quality and to create exemplary buildings. Once again this year, there were some outstanding entries that can serve as examples of successful design. I would therefore like to congratulate all the award winners and thank them for their participation," said Mayor and Head of Urban Development and Environment Christian Gerlitz. He presented the awards to the winners today (12.12.2023) in the historic town hall in Jena.

Other award winners and special prize for energy efficiency

In addition to Fraunhofer Strasse 8, other properties impressed the jury with their particularly successful refurbishments and exemplary façade solutions. The following buildings received recognition with prize money:

• the residential building at Hausbergstrasse 25

• the new administrative building of Asphericon GmbH at Stockholmer Str. 9

• the listed former villa Am Zementwerk, which was converted into an office building

The properties at Hausbergstrasse 25 and Stockholmerstrasse 9 also received the special prize for energy efficiency.

Prize awarded for the 31st time

Thanks to the support of a total of 17 sponsors, exemplary new buildings and outstanding façade renovations in the city of Jena have now been honored for the 31st time since 1993. The following companies, institutions and private individuals provided prize money totaling around €10,000 for this year's façade award:

- Sparkasse Jena Saale Holzland
- IBA GmbH
- HI Bauprojekt GmbH
- S&L Szymanski GmbH
- Opticians Stegmann
- District craftsmen's association Jena-Saale-Holzland
- Your painter Thomas Jüttner GmbH
- Veit & Heppner GmbH
- OTTO Architecture + Landscape Architecture Partnership mbB
- AICON Real Estate
- The Gummich family
- HEYX Engineering
- Gisi Architecture
- Elisabeth Wackernagel
- Heiko Krabbes
- Kind Energy Consulting
- Motel & Bowling Jembopark

Background: The façade prize

The competition, launched by publisher and homeowner Thomas Voelckner in 1993, aims to highlight and reward particularly exemplary renovation and design work on façades, to thank building owners, to highlight craftsmanship and to honor the companies and planning offices involved in the construction.

The prize money provided by the private sponsors is to be awarded to private builders in recognition of their commitment and to create an incentive for imitation. Public buildings and housing companies are excluded from prize money.

The competition is held annually with the support of around 15 sponsors. The Jena Façade Award would not be possible without the support of these sponsors, who have generously donated money and goods in previous years.

An independent jury consisting of representatives of the sponsors, architects and representatives of the city selects the winning project, for which the façade prize is then awarded. Since 2009, the city has also offered a special prize for energy efficiency, which can be awarded for exemplary energy solutions.