Resource-efficient designs and new digital manufacturing methods are increasingly shaping the development of modern concrete construction. The Concrete Design Competition offers students the opportunity to develop innovative concepts and present their ideas to a jury of experts from academia and industry.
A platform for the next generation of engineers
The biennial Austrian Concrete Design Competition is aimed at students of architecture, civil engineering, planning and design. The aim of the competition is to rethink the potential of concrete as a building material and to develop innovative solutions for the sustainable use of materials and resources.
A panel of experts from academia, industry and iC
A total of 31 projects from across Austria were submitted for this year’s competition. Markus Querner, a partner at iC, was one of the eight members of the expert jury and helped to assess the innovative concepts. Together with the other jury members, he evaluated the projects in terms of their technical quality, innovative potential and their contribution to resource-efficient concrete construction.
Digital technologies for resource-efficient designs
First place was won by the “High Performance Vault” project by students from CU – Carinthia University of Applied Sciences.
The award-winning vault design demonstrates how digital planning and manufacturing methods can significantly reduce material usage without compromising load-bearing capacity. The techniques used included 3D printing, laser cutting, parametric design and pneumatic free-form formwork. The result is a weight-optimised concrete structure that combines innovative manufacturing technologies with resource-efficient construction.
International exchange as the next step
Thanks to their success in the competition, the team has qualified for the international Concrete Design Competition Masterclass, which will take place in August 2026 at the PORR Campus in Vienna. There, the winning teams from several European countries will come together to further develop their projects and network with experts and other students as part of an international exchange.
The competition highlights the contribution that young engineers and architects are already making today to the further development of sustainable construction methods. At the same time, it promotes the transfer of knowledge between universities, research and industry, and creates space for innovative ideas that can help shape the future of concrete construction.
