Introduction
The Hospice: Home for the Terminally Ill Competition sought conceptual ideas that explore health design innovation. It offered a chance for participants to experiment with architecture as a tool for helping people suffering from diseases and to demonstrate how architecture can offer psychological relief. It is the first in a series of health-related design events, which will be accompanied by other competitions including the Home for the Blind Competition and the Accessible Architecture Essay Competition
The brief requested a space where those facing terminal illnesses can go for respite, recuperation, and receive support in whatever form they may need: a center where patients can visit daily to receive advice, guidance, and companionship while undergoing treatment. The program was to include: a ‘common zone’ with a small library, gathering room, chapel, kitchen, and dining rooms; and a ‘private zone’ containing a nurse’s room and therapy room for psychological support. The intended capacity was for 15 visitors and 5 staff members for daytime care only. There was no defined location, and participants were asked to select a theoretical site from their home country.
Bee Breeders worked with an international jury of innovative architects with experience designing for the program type at hand: Rubén García Rubio and Sonsoles Vela Navarro, architects and co-founders of studioVRA based in Zaragoza, Spain; Arturo Mc Clean, communications manager and architect at Barcelona-based Miralles Tagliabue EMBT which has completed such projects as Kálida Sant Pau Centre in Barcelona – a space of emotional, social, and practical support for cancer patients, part of the Maggie’s Centre Network; Paul Monaghan, director at AHMM in London, which has completed projects including the North London Hospice and Kentish Town Health Centre; Françoise N’Thépé of Paris-based practice FRANÇOISE N’THÉPÉ ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN; Andrew Thurman, who leads the Interior Design program at York St. John University; and Dr Johan van der Zwart, a researcher with a focus on the interaction between technology, people, process, and place.
Bee Breeders received a wide range of submissions from around the world. Those selected by the jury were chosen for their intelligent site locations, focus on human scale, placemaking, and concepts respectful of the delicate moral nature of the program.
Bee Breeders and its jury panel would like to thank all the designers that participated in this competition.
We sincerely thank our jury panel
for their time and expertise
Kristina Loock
Head of Business Development, gmp
Germany
Dr Johan van der Zwart
researcher and an assistant professor at the NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Norway
Andrew Thurman
York St. John University, Interior Design program
United Kingdom
Françoise N’Thépé
Françoise N'THEPE - Architecture & Design
France
Paul Monaghan
Executive director and Head of Design Studio AHMM
United Kingdom
Rubén García Rubio
co-founder of studioVRA
Spain
Sonsoles Vela Navarro
co-founder of studioVRA
Spain
Arturo Mc Clean
Architect at Barcelona based Miralles Tagliabue EMBT
Spain
1st Prize Winner +
BB GREEN AWARD
BB GREEN AWARD
INTO THE GARDEN
In our opinion, architectural competitions are the best method of selecting a project. Customers can see different approaches to a design task, and so have the opportunity to fully understand what they can get. For designers, they are an opportunity for healthy competition with other participants, strengthening teamwork and stimulating creativity. Participation in the competition is also an opportunity to approach interesting and inspiring topics.
Read full interviewJury feedback summary
‘Into the Garden’ offers a natural sanctuary designed to feel like a magical green space under a floating roof. Timber construction wrapped in a translucent membrane, the building glows with the light of the exterior while offering a therapeutic ambiance free from exterior urban audio and visual noises. The jury summarized it as ‘‘a giant conservatory with a beautiful garden below, with rooms surrounding this garden that give a sense of both indoor and outdoor space.” The jury also commented, “The proposal presents a fresh idea about the integration of daytime care within an urban context through vegetation and a protective roof. The proposal offers a strong conceptual idea integrated into an urban context that emphasizes the use of nature as a healing instrument for humans and cities. It feels like a fantastic space to inhabit all year round.”
2nd Prize Winner
Nature Interlude - A hospice for the perception of time
Participating in architecture competitions is the most opportune moment to push ourselves to the limit and explore our creativity. As we can escape the daily dynamics and limits of the profession and choose the people we have affinity to and debate architecture with, it’s a moment of complete freedom to think and create projects that reflect what we think about life in society.
Read full interviewJury feedback summary
“Nature Interlude: A Hospice for the Perception of Time” attempts to slow things down by integrating a system of modular elements into a green space of art and nature. The project is based on three conceptual points: the hospice as an extension of nature; a system of metrics and modulation; and principles of materiality and sustainable construction. The jury writes, “The modular construction system makes the proposition a universal design that could be transposed in different places, both interesting and ecological. The materiality and use of sustainable approach are well developed: the hospice is transformed into an extension of nature and into an open – air art gallery within a park. This is a very complete project with attention to spatial and constructive details.”
3rd Prize Winner
Head in the Clouds
I participate in architecture competitions to step outside my comfort zone. Although I am typically a practical thinker, architecture competitions allow me the freedom to remove myself from the basis of reality to create more radical designs.
Read full interviewJury feedback summary
“Head in the Clouds” is a proposal for a children’s hospice at the McMaster Children’s Hospital in Ontario. The project studies principles of confinement and boundaries, breaking from the mould of the typical hospital room typology of four sterile walls and a horizontal ceiling to offer ellipsoid volumes that have no beginning or end. ETFE is proposed to shape these rooms and offer visual translucency among enclosed private and open common spaces. The jury commented, “The topic of children's terminal illness is really appreciated for its delicate moral issue, along with the idea of integrating the project within a university. The innovative materials, concept, and great quality of drawings of this proposition are remarkable and poetic.”