MVRDV, Heatherwick Studio, and Mecanoo Among Five Shortlisted Teams for Shift Sustainability Landmark in Rotterdam

Shift, a company offering digital programs to reduce carbon emissions through individual behavior change, has announced the five finalist teams advancing to Stage Two of its international architecture competition. Launched in January 2025, the Shift International Architecture Competition called for proposals to design "the Shift Landmark": a 25,000 to 30,000 m² building in Waterkant, a new waterfront district in southern Rotterdam. The project includes a hotel, a conference and meeting center, and a sustainable food court. Its objective is to set a new standard for a purpose-driven destination that turns circular living into "something individuals, companies, and organisations can feel, experience, and act on." The five shortlisted design concepts reflect different visions of sustainability and climate action, developed by teams led by the European offices of MVRDV (Netherlands), Heatherwick Studio (United Kingdom), Office for Political Innovation (Spain), Mecanoo (Netherlands), and Ecosistema Urbano (Spain).

Drawn by Hand: Géométral's Site-Specific Architecture

Founded in 2022 by Clément Masurier and based in Paris, France, Géométral is an architectural practice defined by design strategies that are linked to the landscape, which it treats as a primary determinant of form. The studio, one of the winners of the ArchDaily 2025 Next Practices Awards, approaches each project as a small universe that combines program, atmosphere, and spatial narratives. Rather than a single signature style, they focus on crafting moods and situations tailored to each context and user.

Hospital of the Smart Health Care City / Michel Rémon & Associés

In 2009, under the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and as part of the great development projects of the UM6P Group, the Mohammed VI Green City was set in motion. From its first breath, it aspired to become more than a place: a world-class academic pole, a living ecosystem of knowledge, where learning, innovation, and an exemplary ecological lifestyle would grow side by side. Rooted in its territory yet reaching far beyond it, the city was imagined at once as local and national, intimate and ambitious.

Gaughar Animal Husbandry / Compartment S4

Set within a 350-acre fruit orchard in Dahanu, Maharashtra, the 'Gaughar' occupies nearly 14 acres of a larger rural campus that includes a tribal school for 600 children and a skill development centre. More than an isolated structure, the gaushala forms part of a living landscape, one shaped by agriculture, learning, and care. Conceived as a complete reimagining of an existing cow shelter, the project reflects a shift in how spaces for animals are imagined: not as back-of-house infrastructure, but as environments that directly influence health, behaviour, and dignity.

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