Adjaye and Heatherwick shortlisted for international architecture award

British architects David Adjaye and Thomas Heatherwick are to compete for the chance to win a prestigious international award for architects aged under 50 whose schemes show environmental sensitivity.

The pair are the only two UK architects named on a list of 30 candidates shortlisted for the first BSI Swiss Architectural Award.

The award, which carries a prize of SFr100,000 (£48,500), will be awarded to an architect under the age of 50 who has contributed to “contemporary architectural culture showing a particular sensitivity towards environmental balance”.

The jury includes the architects Mario Botta, Emilio Ambasz and Davide Croff, a former president of the Venice Biennale.

Botta, the chairman of the jury, said: “The names selected can be considered as some of the most important architects working internationally today. Their sensitivity and professional commitment in their countries of origin highlight their diverse hopes, both fanciful and realistic, in contrast to the contradictions and confusion that are rife today in the debates within the field.”

The full list of nominees and their country of origin is:

• 3LHD (Sa_a Begovi_, Marko Dabrovi_, Tanja Grozdani_, Silvije Novak), Zagreb (Croatia)
• Adjaye Associates, London (UK)
• Jesus Aparicio, Madrid (Spain)
• Solano Benitez, Asuncion (Paraguay)
• Gion A Caminada, Vrin (Switzerland)
• Alfonso Cendron, Venice (Italy)
• Dominique Coulon, Strasbourg (France)
• Richard Francis-Jones, Sydney (Australia)
• the NEXTenterprise (Ernst J Fuchs, Marie-Therese Harnoncourt), Vienna (Austria)
• Sean Godsell, Melbourne (Australia)
• Thomas Heatherwick, London (UK)
• Rick Joy, Tucson (US)
• Alberto Kalach, Mexico City (Mexico)
• Francisco Mangado, Pamplona (Spain)
• Mansilla & Tuñon, Madrid (Spain)
• Francisco and Manuel Aires Mateus, Lisbon (Portugal)
• Rahul Mehrotra, Mumbai (India)
• Quintus Miller and Paola Maranta, Basel (Switzerland)
• Marco Navarra - Studio Nowa, Caltagirone (Italy)
• OFFICE dA (Nader Tehrani, Monica Ponce de Leon), Boston (US)
• Valerio Olgiati, Chur (Switzerland)
• Promontorio Architectos (João Perloiro, João Luis Ferreira, Paulo Perloiro, Paulo Martins Barata, Pedro Appleton, Adrian Beloso-Baker), Lisbon (Portugal)
• Sa_a Randi_, Idis Turato, Rijeka (Croatia)
• Joao Alvaro Rocha, Maia (Portugal)
• Enric Ruiz Geli (Cloud 9), Barcelona (Spain)
• S-M.A.O. (Juan Carlos Sancho, Sol Madridejos), Madrid (Spain)
• Beniamino Servino, Caserta (Italy)
• Shuhei Endo, Osaka (Japan)
• Antonio Jimenez Torrecillas, Granada (Spain)
• Wang Shu, Hangzhou (China)