Foreword

Bee Breeders has focused much of its recent attention on questions of small-scale, affordable and sustainable living. It has done so by organising a number of international competitions seeking innovative solutions to the dual crises of global housing and climate change. Examples of the small-scale living series range from the Silent Meditation Forest Cabins to the MICROHOME competitions; events run as part of the affordable housing series have included competitions for the cities of San Francisco, Melbourne, and London. Bee Breeders has also partnered with ARCHHIVE Books to feature key competition proposals alongside topical interviews with global industry leaders and entrepreneurs in its print publications What is Affordable Housing? and What is Small-Scale Architecture?

The Romantic Cabin for Two Competition fits perfectly within this growing library of design ideas for small-scale, sustainable living. The competition was run in partnership with The Earth Energies Sanctuary, a 200-acre farm located in northern New Zealand. It is a functioning organic farm which uses seaweed fertilisers and follows the principles of natural solid biology to create a more balanced ecosystem on the land, and produces beeswax used in local products and remedies. It seeks ideas for a small, open plan cabin on the Earth Energies property that can provide a comfortable and relaxing escape for two guests to connect with nature and one another. It calls for construction technologies and materials that meet best green-building practices. This is the second competition organised with the Sanctuary after the Tiny Kiwi Meditation Cabin.

This competition posits that eco-tourism and architecture can evolve together to provide visitors with world-class experiences in well-constructed, sustainable buildings that use local materials, are small in scale, and reduce impact on their environments or sites. 'Green building' is not only material in nature - it is also social, economic and ecological. All of these ideas can and should be embedded in architectural solutions. This requires not just well-considered designs by architects but also input from researchers, entrepreneurs, planners and members of communities.

The jury for the Earth Energies Sanctuary competition was regional and international in nature and included: Nancy Beka, an architectural designer and co-director of Studio Edwards, a Melbourne-based design practice established in 2016: Mari Hunt, an Estonian architect, partner and co-founder of the architecture office b210, a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts, a polar enthusiast and a tiny house builder; Suzanne Hunt, founder and principal architect at Suzanne Hunt Architect, a multi-awarded practice in Perth, Australia; Pablo Larroulet, a Chilean architect and founder of LARROU ARQ  - Pablo Larroulet Arquitectura: Marco Lavit founder of Atelier LAVIT based in Paris in 2014, which has realized an exclusive tree house, Origin, for the Park of Raray Castle, France, and a series of surprising, floating cabins for an hotel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape; and Cristina Verissimo, co-founding partner of Lisbon-based CVDB arquitectos and chief curator of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022.

Bee Breeders and its jury panel would like to thank all the designers that participated in this competition.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Romantic Cabin
For Two
Official partner
Romantic Cabin
For Two

1st Prize Winner

Project name

Intimo

In our public university there is a strong tradition (75 years and running) of a housing competition, sponsored by the students every year, which has stuck and carried over with us. To us, competitions offer the challenge and opportunity to break free of academic and/or commercial restrictions which we may encounter day to day.

Read full interview
Authors Maria Lucia Arce, Lucas Cardona, Gonzalo Camargo
Country Uruguay

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

cocoon

Architecture competitions are a great way of collaborating with like-minded people on projects that reflect your values and provide an opportunity to implement them into real-world use. Having great and inspiring ideas is one thing, but competitions provide realistic boundaries, further shaping and honing whatever you have in mind. Additionally, they present a real need and purpose, and nothing is more satisfying than a realised project that may be of benefit to others.

Read full interview
Authors Marcel Dawid, Anita Wiśniewska, Brian Dam
Country Poland

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

TAPATORU

By participating in architectural competitions, we learn the methods and ways of finding architectural ideas. It`s always surprising to find many different solutions for one location.

Read full interview
Authors Grzegorz Mączka, Marta Mączka
Country Poland

BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Sanctuary Beacon

Competitions are great platforms to test out our skills and ideas as young architects. They provide a “middle space” between academia and practice, where the unavoidably competitive nature of the profession is channelled positively into a collective intellectual output.

Read full interview
Authors Yolande Wang, Zekun Qin
Country United Kingdom
+74 points Buildner University Rankings

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Romantic Cabin - Nature Retreat

Country Germany

Client Favorite

Project name

Romantic Cabin For Two

Country Italy

Honorable Mentions

Show Honorables Mentions (6 of 6) Hide Honorables Mentions projects
Project name

Nurture Amongst Nature

Authors Amanda Wijaya, Annuska Menoita
Country New Zealand
Project name

Romantic Quarters

Country France
Project name

Nestled

Authors David Gallo, Franklin Min, Shivani Bakhru
Country Finland
Project name

all in ONE

Authors Hüseyin Melih Baktır, Nebile Ece Onulay, Çağla Kıran
Country Turkey
Project name

The Circle of Life

Shortlisted projects

Show Shortlisted projects Hide Shortlisted projects

A Cabin For Love

Yaoyi Fan

Gabriel Munnich

Design with FRANK

United States

Living the Vacuum

Emanuele Cavaglion

giovanni cavaglion

xing li

xiaoxu liang

Italy

MADE_IN

Paolo Montesanto

Germany

c.42: THEM' and THEIR's

Elliott Morgan

Zimin Lee

New Zealand

Intimo

Maria Lucia Arce

Lucas Cardona

Gonzalo Camargo

Uruguay

Project ID 55734

Christian Maidankine

Canada

Axial Cabin

Bridget Scott

Manjeera Kancharla

Tyler Dodd

Australia

cocoon

Marcel Dawid

Anita Wiśniewska

Brian Dam

Poland

Tairongo

Warisa Chaisutyakorn

Thong-ek Kladpan

Surunchana Chotivisit

Yotsawadee Potippayawong

Nikken Sekkei (Thailand) Ltd.

Thailand

Love nest

Plamena Draganova

Tsvetelina Gadzhelova

University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Bulgaria

LEVITATION

Györgyi teréz Jánszky

Vanda Beatrix Buriana

Jánszky Design Kft.

Hungary

Plot 4

Ryuki Han

New Zealand

PC4

Rob Brown

Australia

Romantic Cabin For Two

Andrea Smaniotto

Barbara Sandri

Italy

Tomasz Gęsiak

Poland

Romantic Cabin for Two

Mark Chalhoub

Lejla Sejdinovic

Niyousha Ahmadi naeini

Canada

NGĀWARI CABIN FOR TWO

Mayawee Panjaphakdee

Thapana Kositchaiwat

Natchanan Bonoy

Wachiraporn Sumranjit

King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Thailand

The Frame

Javier Anzueto busto

María Arriola flesch

Universidad Francisco Marroquín

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Guatemala

The Circle of Life

Misak Terzibasiyan

Taura Aurylaitė

Amir Feizinezhadgheshlaghi

Danai Dafnouli

UArchitects

Netherlands

CABIN

Dairis Tiesnesis

Latvia

Romantic Cabin - Nature Retreat

Naro Goller

Burak Camgöz

Alexander Lehmann

Germany

Coromandel Cottage

Jacques Orton

South Africa

Cameram

Graham Oakley

Wilfred Rodriguez

Hanna Aaron

United States

Romantic Retreat

Andrew Glicksberg

United States

Gate to symbiosis

Artur Gała

Silesian University of Technology: Faculty of Architecture

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Nurture Amongst Nature

Amanda Wijaya

Annuska Menoita

New Zealand

Bach 42

Emanuele Lisci

New Zealand

Waitakaruru

Seth Trocio

Chris Gandhi

William Creighton

Victoria University of Wellington

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
New Zealand

Mauri Tau

Pawel Pacak

Poland

Sanctuary Beacon

Yolande Wang

Zekun Qin

Architectural Association

+74 points Buildner University Rankings!
United Kingdom

Romantic Quarters

Rand El Haj Hasan

France

Bon Voyage

Honggi Lim

South Korea

Harmony House

Olivia Wong

Justin Crook

New Zealand

all in ONE

Hüseyin Melih Baktır

Nebile Ece Onulay

Çağla Kıran

Turkey

TAPATORU

Grzegorz Mączka

Marta Mączka

Poland

Romantic Cabin For Two

Ana Niza

Portugal

360

Liis Sepp

Angeelika Kaja

Estonia

Romantic Cabin For Two

Ufaira Abida

Sulaiman Abedi

United Arab Emirates

The Nest

Ahmed Elmaghraby

Taha Ghaleb

Mohammed Zaki

Egypt

Nestled

David Gallo

Franklin Min

Shivani Bakhru

Finland