The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced that Automated Architecture (AUAR), a technology company that has developed a platform for automated construction of sustainable and affordable timber frame housing, has been named the overall winner of the PropTech Innovation Challenge (PIC) European Final 2025 following their win in the UK & Ireland round of the coveted challenge.

L-R: Oumniya Bouhdoud, Mollie Claypool, Jorden Marek Korte

Now in its third year, PIC is a ULI Europe Young Leaders-led initiative designed to foster innovation in the built environment. This year’s challenge, which reflects ULI’s mission priorities, the core pillars of C Change, and particularly the C Change for Housing programme, focused on finding the innovative, scalable, tangible solutions needed to decarbonise affordable housing, with entries assessed according to their potential impact, innovation scalability and likelihood of adoption by the jury.

Following in-country competitions held over the summer, the European Grand Final brought together eight diverse in-country winners to compete for the overall prize, including Green Fusion (Germany), Zenova, (Iberia – Spain & Portugal), Coat-ing (the Nordics), aloHOMora coliving (France), Automated Architecture (UK & Ireland), IZODOM (Poland and Czech Republic), vyzn (Switzerland), and 2025 Materials Limited (Greece & Cyprus) to pitch their solutions to the expert PIC jury.

Automated Architecture was subsequently declared the overall European Grand Final Winner by the jury. The tech company founded in 2022, uses data-driven learning and generative design in its automated construction platform, deploying a decentralised robotic micro-factory network to deliver sustainable timber housing at scale.

In addition, both Coat-ing and alohomora received special mentions from the jury for their innovative products that are demonstrating very strong potential in advancing sustainability in affordable housing.

Mollie Claypool, Co-Founder and CEO, Automated Architecture, comments, “Winning the PropTech Innovation Challenge is an incredible recognition of AUAR’s vision to transform how we build homes and cities. It reinforces our belief that automation and technology can drive not just efficiency, but also sustainability and equity in homebuilding. For our team, this award is validation that the future of housing lies in empowering communities through our accessible, no-CapEx micro-factories.”

The delivery of PIC is led by members of the ULI Europe Young Leaders Executive Committee, comprising Jorden Korte, Vice President Private Alternatives, AllianceBernstein, Oumniya Bouhdoud, Vice President Real Estate Private Equity Investing at BGO, and Simon Abboud, programme director at Hines Europe.

Jorden Marek Korte (AlianceBernstein) comments, “We chose AUAR because they turn decarbonisation from an aspiration into an investable operating model. By combining mass‑timber design with AI‑driven automation and distributed micro‑factories, AUAR cuts embodied carbon and waste at the source, shortens programmes, and lowers total delivery cost – without burdening partners with heavy upfront CapEx. It’s a pragmatic, scalable pathway to low‑carbon, high‑quality homes that works for affordable housing budgets today.”

Oumniya Bouhdoud (BGO) added, “This year’s PIC addressed one of the sector’s most urgent challenges: decarbonising housing in a way that’s financially sustainable. AUAR stood out because they didn’t see affordability and decarbonisation as competing goals – they showed that solving for one accelerates the other. Their modular, AI-enabled model demonstrates how technology can deliver scale, cost efficiency and deep carbon impact simultaneously. Affordability has become a key issue in many cities – if we can make low-carbon housing delivery viable, it can be a game changer. AUAR’s approach signals the next wave of value creation: aligning financial performance with technological innovation and environmental outcomes. That’s the future ULI PIC and the C Change programme are helping us move towards – where decarbonisation becomes not just a moral imperative, but a strategic and profitable one.”

Ariana Maass, PIC Jury member and chair of ULI Europe Young Leaders, concluded “AUAR represents exactly what the PropTech Innovation Challenge was designed to spotlight, bold innovation that solves real problems for the industry and for society. Their model proves that sustainable, affordable housing doesn’t have to be a compromise; with automation, data, and decentralised micro-factories, it can be scalable, investable, and community centred. AUAR shows how technology can accelerate decarbonisation in a way that’s commercially viable today, and that is why they stood out as the clear European winner.”

The PIC European jury includes:

Nicolas Bearelle, Executive Chairman, Revive World BV; Sophie Chick, Vice President, ESG Programmes, ULI Europe; Marc Fauchille, Head of Development & Repurposing Europe, LaSalle Investment Management; Anne Kavanagh, ULI Europe Chair; Ariana Maass, Director, Real Estate Business Development, Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen; Franc Mouwen, EIC Programme Manager for Architecture Engineering Construction, European Innovation Council; Hilke Nijmeijer, Senior Portfolio Manager CBRE Europe Residential Partners, CBRE Investment Management Europe BV; Aneta Rusiniak, Head of Sustainability Real Estate, Invesco; Naqash Tahir, Executive Director, PGIM Financial Limited; and Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe.

Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe, comments, “As our industry looks to address some of society’s biggest challenges, PIC’s added value is on addressing the innovation gap between the real estate industry and the pioneering, deliverable and scalable high-and low-tech start-ups already providing solutions. This year’s theme is especially timely and material with housing identified as the number one priority in many countries across Europe and to ensure solutions are equitable and future proof, decarbonisation needs to be an essential part of any solution.”

“My congratulations go to AUAR for their success in this third year of the competition, the finalists and to all the companies that took part. My thanks also go to our Young Leaders in Europe who are driving this very successful initiative for ULI, to our country champions, and to our regional and European juries, for all their hard work. The enthusiasm and positive energy part of the programme are mind-blowing and demonstrate the appetite within the industry to embrace innovation and drive progress.”

In addition to unrivalled industry exposure through the ULI international network, all finalists will benefit from a one-year ULI membership including full access to the Knowledge Finder research platform, and opportunities to join the ULI National and European Product Council events.

Full details of all of the EMEA finalists including their pitch decks are available on the ULI Europe website.

Please visit: https://europe.uli.org/young-leaders-proptech-innovation-challenge-pic/.

For more information, email [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. ULI Europe has over 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks. Visit https://europe.uli.org