Thailand’s green-architecture team headed by Isavaret Tamonut has won the prestigious Silver Award for its "Urban Farm Factory" project to grow crops on a 10-rai (1.6-hectare) plot in Bangkok’s Rat Burana district, beating thousands of entries in the Holcim Foundation’s Asia-Pacific competition. Switzerland-based Holcim, which owns 30 per cent of Siam City Cement (SCCC), Thailand’s second-largest cement producer, sponsors the foundation that handed a total of US$300,000 (Bt9.4 million) to 12 winning Asian teams.Held every three years, it honours designs for "sustainable construction" that reduces carbon emissions and cuts waste and pollution, thereby safeguarding the environment. Kasetsart University’s Dr Singh Intrachooto, who served as key consultant to Isavaret, said the recent floods in Thailand showed the need for back-up supply chains such as the team’s urban farms to cope with transport disruptions.