A Melbourne studio has won the $20,000 first prize in an ideas competition to design affordable and sustainable housing in South Australia.
The Living Village Design Competition was a partnership between the South Australian Housing Authority, CityLab, the Australian Institute of Architects and the City of Unley. Submissions for the competition closed in December 2021, with the winner announced at the Institute’s Lost Opportunities Symposium in March 2022.
The brief called for designs that showcased high-quality and affordable residential housing that built upon the principles of energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, cultural sustainability and community building. The brief also specified that designs incorporate an existing building – the Mornington House – into the plans as a potential community hub.
The competition provided an opportunity for emerging architects to showcase their ideas in the affordable housing space, with the eligibility criteria specifying that entrants had to have graduated within no more than 15 years at the time of submission, and to have been registered for no more than 10 years.
Inclu Design Architects’ site plan for the Living Village.
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Inclu Design Architects
Inclu Design, formally established in 2020, submitted the winning proposal, which applied the principles of regenerative design and championed the tenets of affordability and ecological integration.
“The design celebrates existing place assets, transforms the site into a network of shared spaces and creates comfortable and sustainable homes for diverse and growing communities,” said Angelica Rojas, co-director of Inclu Design.
“Cost-effective strategies include carefully considering the size of the dwelling, rationalized structure and form and standardisation of services. Our proposal was also to integrate each design element so that it serves multiple purposes.”
Co-director Marco Cubillos, added, “When people talk about what is great about living in a ‘village’, the most common words used to describe this experience are community, relationships and safety. Our proposal does not take these three words for granted and combines spatial elements that enable these qualities in the site.”
IncluDesign Architects design director Marco Cubillos and creative director Angelica Rojas.
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IncluDesign Architects
The jury said the winning proposal was a “highly considered submission” that offered a nuanced sense of community through a variety of shared and opened spaces.
The jury was made up of a panel of six industry experts from a variety of backgrounds including housing authorities, architectural practices, councils and industry publications. They were: Andrew Atkinson (SA Housing Authority), Shannon Battisson (Australian Institute of Architects President-Elect), Erin Crowden (EmAGN), Julie Eizenberg (Koning Eizenberg), Laura Harding (Hill Thalis Architects and architectural writer), Jeremy McLeod (Breathe Architecture), and Peter Tsokas (City of Unley).
The second place prize was awarded to WW and P and David Parsons Architects received third place. The competition entitles the winner to $20,000, with second and third prizes receiving $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.
More information about the Living Village Design Competition is available on the CityLab website.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
