For the past 80 years, the VELUX Group has created better indoor environments by bringing daylight and fresh air into homes and other buildings all over the world. The VELUX Group was founded in Denmark and is today an international company with presence in 40 countries. Our key products are roof windows, flat roof skylights and modular skylights for commercial buildings as well as accessories like blinds, and roller shutters, plus solutions for operating them, including sensor-driven, remote controlled and smart-home systems.

We have been partnering with World Architecture Festival since 2015 with the following:

International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture

A global competition for students of architecture running every second year since 2004. Students from all over the world are challenged to work with daylight as an ever relevant source of light and life. The award is one of the most important global student competitions of its kind.

The regional winners have been presented on the WAF stage since 2016 and the 2022-winners will present their project live to the jury at WAF in December 2022. The jury, composed in collaboration with the International Union of Architects (UIA) , is comprised of the internationally renowned architects: Fuensanta Nieto (ES), Anapuma Kundoo (IN), John Ronan (US) and Rainer Hofmann (DE) together with Martin Løkke from VELUX Group Innovation Center (DK)

Best Use of Natural Light

The prize, sponsored by VELUX, has been among the special WAF prizes since 2019. The prize showcases the unique use of a daylighting in completed buildings. Special emphasis is put on projects that consider the impact of natural light on human well-being, performance and joy.

The 2019 winner was Hopkins Architects for the Smith Campus Center, Harvard University, Boston, USA.

The 2021 winner was Heatherwick Studio, London, UK for Maggie’s Leeds (UK)

In 2021 Batlleiroig's Doctor's Without Borders Corporate Headquarters building in Barcelona (ES) was selected as highly commented project