The European Collective Housing Award is an international biennial award that recognizes outstanding collective housing projects across the continent.
It is fully aligned with the New European Bauhaus, because it promotes initiatives that integrate sustainability, inclusion, and architectural quality, encourages housing models that strengthen social cohesion, fosters innovation and responsible urban regeneration, and contributes to a European debate on the future of housing, in line with the NEB’s mission to transform the built environment.
This award was created in 2023 as a collaboration between the Basque Institute of Architecture (EAI) and the arc en rêve centre d’architecture in Bordeaux, with the aim of celebrating the European tradition of shared housing as an essential element of its urban model.
It achieves a balanced combination of community identity, social integration, and more efficient use of land. This year, 2026, marks its second edition, and applications will be accepted until March 31.
The award is characterized by evaluating proposals based on their aesthetics and technical innovation. But it doesn’t stop there. The jury seeks to evaluate projects that positively influence the lives of communities, from their design to their everyday use, and that respond to current challenges, which are also very important in the New Bauhaus Ecosystem, such as social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and responsible and resilient urban regeneration.
This call for entries is open to projects from the 46 countries that make up the Council of Europe, and as it did two years ago in its first edition, it aims to recognize both new constructions and renovations of residential, public, and private buildings whose work has been completed between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025.
It also takes into account the work of all the actors involved: architects, developers, public administrations, and, especially, the residents themselves who live in these innovative and reconfigured spaces.
Although it is an honorary award, its winners achieve international visibility, as they are featured in exhibitions and specialized publications, and actively contribute to generating debate and knowledge about the future of collective housing in Europe.
On this occasion, it will feature a multidisciplinary international jury chaired by renowned architect Carme Pinós, winner of, among others, the National Architecture Award from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda.
He will evaluate the proposals alongside four other experts from fields such as architecture, urban sociology, housing policy, and contemporary urban research.
They are architect Jing Liu, urban researcher and journalist Lucia Tozzi, housing expert Catherine Sabbah, and sociologist David Madden. Together, they will provide a broad and enriching perspective. More information is available at this link.
