Courage for an Idea – Building Award 2025 for Pascal Joos
Possibly record-breaking achievement. Already for the 4th, time LÜCHINGER MEYER PARTNER has won the renowned engineering award “Building Award”. But unlike previous successes, this particular award will not find its place into our central trophy collection. Instead, it stays with façade engineer Pascal Joos. The young project leader received the award in the category “Young Professionals” for his research and development work as part of the project “Botanical Garden of the University of Bern – Renovation of the small show houses”.
To sustain the protected filigree steel construction with close to no strengthening, Pascal developed an extremely light glass construction made from chemically prestressed thin window glasses, usually used for smartphone displays and camera lenses. (The used glass originates from a smartphone production series.) Their use as a component of insulating glass in overhead glazing is unique and innovative, and Pascal’s pioneering work makes an important contribution to current topics in building culture such as sustainability, preservation, and resource protection.
Gladly we cite from the laudatory speech of clementine Hegner-van Rooden. “Preserving and simultaneously modernising – sounds like an opposition. However, Pascal Joos has resolved exactly this apparent opposition with his work. Study of variants, testing concept, testing series, dimensioning, and countless discussions with producers – all for constructing the glazing in a way, for them to work energetically while remaining light enough for the existing supporting structure. Pascal Joos – you have scrutinized traditions and worked with endurance on the development of chemically prestressed thin window glasses. You showed that engineering requires courage for an idea – in this case the idea of using smartphone glass – and curiosity to pursue this idea consistently. Exactly this is what young engineers can contribute into our industry: a fresh view from outside, openness towards other disciplines, the will of improve what already exists – and at the same time, sometimes looking beyond the rim of the plate. This receives our highest recognition.”
Sincere congratulations to Pascal and all other awardees for their exemplary engineering work!
