Westphalian Prize for Building Culture: Winners honoured

13 November 2025

The Westphalian Prize for Building Culture 2025, awarded by the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL), was presented on 10 November at the LWL Museum of Art and Culture in Münster. A total of five prizes and ten commendations were awarded to outstanding projects from the past ten years. Among them were two prizes and one commendation for projects in Paderborn, which are located in close proximity to each other in the Pader spring area.

One prize went to St. Michael's Primary School in Paderborn for its exemplary combination of pedagogy and architecture, which has resulted in an inspiring learning environment and an asset to the urban space. Another prize went to Jacoby Studios in Paderborn, which was honoured for its handling of the historic building fabric and the creation of a contemplative yet representative space, made possible by an exceptionally intensive and creatively convincing examination of the existing structure. The Middle Pader Spring Area received recognition for its interdisciplinary approach to ecological challenges and urban development potential. This has resulted in improved pathways, seating steps by the water and a viewpoint where people can take a deep breath and linger – especially on hot days – while also paying attention to habitats for fish and bird species typical of springs.

The aim of the Westphalian Prize for Building Culture is to highlight the importance of building culture for the profile of towns and municipalities and to stimulate discussion about sustainable construction. The five prizes awarded – for a residential project, an open space design, a school, a cultural building and a company headquarters – reflect in their diversity the importance of building culture for social coexistence.
The projects that received an award or recognition come from all regions of Westphalia-Lippe: Münsterland, East Westphalia-Lippe, South Westphalia and the Westphalian Ruhr area. They are located in Bochum, Hagen, Holzwickede, Höxter, Münster, Paderborn, Siegen, Vreden, Wadersloh and Werther. Paderborn stands out as a special architectural location with two prizes and one commendation, Münster with one prize and one commendation, and Bochum with three commendations.

In spring 2025, the LWL awarded the Westphalian Prize for Building Culture for the third time after 2010 and 2015. Around 200 completed projects were submitted, covering the entire ten-year period of the award, with projects completed since 2020 in the majority. More conversions and extensions were submitted than new buildings. Many of these existing buildings that have been extended are listed buildings.

The independent jury, consisting of renowned experts and representatives of the LWL, noted the high overall standard of the submissions. In addition to the quality of urban development, architecture and open space planning, the jury also assessed the integration into the context, sustainability, and planning, participation and implementation processes.

Short films have already been made about the five prize winners, which premiered during the award ceremony. The award-winning projects will also be presented to a wider audience in spring 2026 in an exhibition with a publication and other media formats.

The Westphalian Prize for Building Culture 2025 is sponsored by the Ernsting Art and Culture Foundation (Coesfeld), the Hagemeister brickworks (Nottuln) and NRW.BANK (Düsseldorf/Münster).

Image information:

Image 1: The Middle Pader Spring Area was awarded a commendation as part of the Westphalian Prize for Building Culture. Also present were LWL Head of Culture Barbara Rüschoff-Parzinger, Jessica Schütte and Brigitte Zacharias from the Office for Environmental Protection and Green Spaces of the City of Paderborn, and LWL Director Georg Lunemann (from left).

Image 2: An aerial view of the Pader spring area.