Submission: August 31, 2015
Registration: August 15, 2015
Language: English
Location: Durban, South Africa
Prizes: x2 Grand Prizes of $6,000, x2 Prizes of $3,000, x2 Student Prizes of $2,000
Type: Open
Housing for the world’s growing urban population and the threat of deforestation are two of the most significant issues facing humanity today. TREEHOUSING challenges students, professional architects and engineers around the world to develop innovative wood housing and urban building solutions through two distinct open competitions:
COMPETITION 1: TREEHOUSING DURBAN
Design Challenge | Tall Wood Housing
COMPETITION 2: TREEHOUSING GLOBAL
Design Challenge | Affordable Wood Housing
COMPETITION 1: TREEHOUSING DURBAN
ELIGIBLE ENTRANTS
Students of Architecture, Professional Architects and Designers
THE CHALLENGE
TREEHOUSING DURBAN challenges participants to design a residential and/or mixed-use complex on a site in Durban, South Africa.
The creation of affordable housing is a critical issue in Durban and throughout the world. Entrants are asked to use wood products to design a high-rise solution that addresses the housing needs of the community and integrates with the surrounding urban context. Submissions can include additional program spaces that are relevant to the location (transit, plaza, retail, etc.). Solutions that are replicable and expandable beyond the particular context of the site are encouraged.
Wood materials offer unique construction solutions to address the issue of global urban housing needs. Entrants will be challenged to propose construction systems that draw on the performance characteristics of a variety of wood technologies. Design solutions must use wood as the primary structural system. Any sustainably-harvested wood material or product is possible, even those not yet invented.
An ability to connect the wood construction system and building techniques to the local forest industry within South Africa is preferred but not mandatory. Ideas that will help enhance South African forest management and forest products are encouraged.
PROGRAM
The competition does not define a strict building program. We have included a suggested program below but entrants are encouraged to tailor their submission to their perspective, skills, knowledge and experiences with housing.
SUGGESTED PROGRAM AREA
Residential
Range of unit sizes Public gathering Commercial space
10,000 sqm
40 sqm / 100 sqm 600 sqm
600 sqm
COMPETITION 2: TREEHOUSING GLOBAL
ELIGIBLE ENTRANTS
Students of Architecture, Professional Architects and Designers
THE CHALLENGE
TREEHOUSING GLOBAL challenges participants to design affordable housing on a site of their choosing, anywhere in the world, with a focus on improving and providing global housing solutions in wood.
Design solutions must use wood as the primary structural system. Any sustainably harvested wood material or product is possible, even those not yet invented. Every culture and region of the world has a unique perspective and relationship to the forest that may bring value to the entrants proposed design for this challenge.
Because of the location of the XIV World Forestry Congress in Durban, South Africa, solutions that address issues specific to the African continent are highly sought after.
PROGRAM
The building must provide affordable housing. Permanent housing typologies are encouraged. Solutions may also explore the use of wood in transitional/temporary/ mobile/refugee housing where deemed appropriate. The scale can range from a single home to dense urban structures.
THE SITE
TREEHOUSING GLOBAL is not limited to any particular site or region of the world. Applicants should choose sites appropriate to their individual rural or urban contexts, as well as their unique forests and ecosystems.
SUBMISSION FORMAT
The entrant is required to submit the final project. It must be uploaded through the TREEHOUSING competition website at (www.treehousing- competition.com) by 5:00 pm, CET, on August 31, 2015.
Submissions must be designed on no more than four A2 (portrait format) digital boards.
The names of participants must NOT appear on the boards. All boards are required to be uploaded through the website in Portable Document Format (PDF) or image (JPEG) files.
CRITERIA FOR JUDGING
Criteria for the judging of submissions will include:
- Wood as the primary structural material.
- Creative and innovative use of wood in the designsolution
- Successful response of the design to itssurrounding context, and successful response
to basic architectural concepts such as human activity needs, structural integrity, and coherence of architectural vocabulary. - Demonstration of the overall environmental benefits including carbon sequestration using wood in the design, plus any other strategies to reduce the design’s carbon footprint.
SCHEDULE
Competition Announced – May 4, 2015
Registration Deadline – August 15, 2015
Submission Deadline – August 31, 2015, 5pm CET
Jury Deliberations – September 7-8, 2015 (Durban ZA)
PRIZES
First Prize in each category – $6,000 USD
Second Prize in each category – $3,000 USD
Two additional student prizes of $2,000 USD will be awarded.
Publication of the top 5 entries in each category.
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