Winner: Business building of the year 2022. A joint project from two architecture practices is a tropical sustainable workplace in Vietnam.

The project houses the specialist steel rope producers Jakob Rope Systems, a high-quality manufacturing organisation specializing in custom-made steel meshing used for scales of private to industrial usage.

Jakob Factory Saigon is the design partnership of Rollimarchini Architekten from Bern and Swiss-born G8A Architects who worked to create a highly innovative and specific manufacturing space, set to become a design reference for tropical sustainable architecture.

The partnership of organisations applied their pillar value of sustainability, both environmental and social, to all phases of the design process, from conception to execution and projected project developments.

As an environmentally friendly alternative to typically horizontally spread manufacturing buildings, the project is a vertical densification strategy, stacking usable zones on superimposed slats. This robust design avoids unnecessary ground usage negating needless land development, while also offering workers agreeable outdoor spaces.

Judges comments: "It's rare to see a factory building created with such care. This feels like a space that is designed to support the wellbeing of the workers by bringing nature to the factory floor. This is all-too rare and should be celebrated."

Architect: G8A Architects and Rollimarchini Architekten

Project: Jakob Factory Saigon