Competition introduction
Competition organisers
The sixth annual MICROHOME architecture competition is part of the Buildner's Small Scale Architecture Appreciation Movement, which hopes to highlight the fact that bigger isn’t always better. With great design and innovative thinking, small-scale architecture could change how this and the next generation view residential property.
For the MICROHOME / Edition #6 architecture competition, participants are invited to submit their designs for a micro home – an off-grid modular structure that would accommodate a hypothetical young professional couple (which will be used as an example of family size throughout the competition series). The only requirement is that the structure’s total floor area does not exceed 25 m2 ; beyond that, participants are encouraged to be as creative as possible. 
Participants are encouraged to rethink spatial organisation and incorporate unique aesthetics, new technologies, and innovative materials that will make the micro home an entirely new form of architecture.
As there is no specified competition site, project designs can be set within any hypothetical site of any size, in either a city or countryside location anywhere in the world. The jury will favour sustainable designs and those projects that look to solve economic, social, and cultural problems through the establishment of new architectural methods.
Download full competition brief for more information!
Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum). Correspondence with organizers must be conducted in English; All information submitted by participants must be in English.
Full competition brief
The full competition brief can be downloaded as often as required; no additional information will be provided after registration.
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- (!) FULL COMPETITION BRIEF
- Règles de compétition
- Reglas de la competencia
- Regolamento del concorso
Prizes
7,000 € + Publication in Magazine
Total Prize Fund
1st PRIZE
3,000 €
PublicationsCertificate of Achievement
2nd PRIZE
1,500 €
PublicationsCertificate of Achievement
3rd PRIZE
1,000 €
PublicationsCertificate of Achievement
BUILDNER STUDENT AWARD (more details)
1,000 €
+ 50 € ARCHHIVE BOOKS Gift Card
+ 50 Points Buildner Architecture University Rankings
Publications
Certificate of Achievement
+ 6 HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CERTIFICATE:
Buildner will also acknowledge the outstanding performance of all winners and honourable mentions with Certificates of Achievement.
Publication in the MICROHOME Magazine
The selected competition winners will be featured in MICROHOME Magazine.
Publicity campaign
The Buildner’s extensive global publicity campaign for the competition winners:
- "SEEN BY" ONE MILLION Results published on buildner.com - one of the leading websites in the industry and is visited by over one million unique visitors each year.
- "SEEN BY" 800 000 MORE Publications on Buildner's social networks (over 600,000 followers) and newsletter campaigns (over 200,000 subscribers).
- INTERVIEW Exclusive interview published with the results and shared on Buildner's social networks.
- MOVIE The competition winners will be granted and opportunity to submit a movie about themselves. The video will be published on the Buildner's website and social networks.
- MEDIA PARTNERS The competition results will get international art and design media coverage and will be featured in the world’s leading architecture media outlets.
Jury panel
Jury members shall under no circumstances be contacted by competition participants or their representatives. Participants who attempt to contact jury members, shall be disqualified.
All jury members are involved in the evaluation based on their availability at that time. All communication regarding the competition should only be carried out with Buildner staff. For any questions please contact us on [email protected]
Sevince Bayrak, architect
architect, writer and co-founder of SO?
Turkey
Sarah Broadstock
Architect at Studio Bark
United Kingdom
Gavin Hale-Brown
Principal of London-based Henley Hale-Brown
United Kingdom
Anne Cecilie Haug
Senior Architect, Snøhetta
Norway
Norihisa Kawashima
Founder and Principal of Nori Architects
Japan
Sam Lubell
writer
USA
Francesca Perani
founder of Francesca Perani Enterprise
Italy
Patrik Schumacher
Director of Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Lei Zheng
associate at Zaha Hadid Architects
United Kingdom
Todd Saunders
founder of Saunders Architecture
Norway
Key dates
Closing date for registration
16 June, 2023
Closing date for project submission
17 July, 2023 (11:59pm London time)
Announcement of the winners
12 September, 2023
Competition Q&A deadline: 22 June, 2023
In order to guarantee equal opportunities to all competition participants,
no new questions will be answered after this deadline!
Email me reminders about MICROHOME deadlines
Registration fees
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Advance Registration17 February - 18 April
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Architects / Enthusiasts / Companies125 €Full award package
This registration provides a complete set of prizes, including certificates of achievement, monetary rewards, and potential construction benefits.90 €No monetary award This registration offers a comprehensive set of prizes, including recognition through publicity, certificates of achievement, and potential construction-related benefits, without any monetary awards. -
Students105 €Full award package This registration provides a complete set of prizes, including certificates of achievement, monetary rewards, and potential construction benefits.70 €No monetary award This registration offers a comprehensive set of prizes, including recognition through publicity, certificates of achievement, and potential construction-related benefits, without any monetary awards.
+4.5% VAT
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Last Minute Registration19 April - 16 June
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Architects / Enthusiasts / Companies145 €Full award package This registration provides a complete set of prizes, including certificates of achievement, monetary rewards, and potential construction benefits.110 €No monetary award This registration offers a comprehensive set of prizes, including recognition through publicity, certificates of achievement, and potential construction-related benefits, without any monetary awards.
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Students115 €Full award package This registration provides a complete set of prizes, including certificates of achievement, monetary rewards, and potential construction benefits.80 €No monetary award This registration offers a comprehensive set of prizes, including recognition through publicity, certificates of achievement, and potential construction-related benefits, without any monetary awards.
+4.5% VAT
STUDENT REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
Contact us to receive special student rates for group registrations (discount applies for 3+ registrations from one university/school) and to receive further information and support for getting your students involved in architecture competitions. Send us request from your university email address along with basic information about yourself and your university/school. Please note that only recognized university staff can apply for the reduced student rate.
Enter the competition!
Register NOWCompetition results in media
F.A.Q.
Competition related questions
This project has no set budget.
No specific site has been selected for this competition.
The 25m² restriction refers to the building footprint and usable floor area indoors (in the case of having more than one storey, your total footprint will need to sum up all floors). The non-essential external structural elements should not be included in the 25m² allocation.
Total 25m² footprint is a sum up for all floors.
You may submit a previously published design concept as long as you are the author and the project presentation materials are original and have not been published before.
As it is explained in the competition brief - for this competition participants are required to upload one A2 presentation panel. Presentation deliverables set listed in the competition brief is a suggestion only. Participants are not required to present the entire list. Please choose only the most essential information set that would explain your design in the most efficient manner.
For the Microhome architecture competition, participants are invited to submit their designs for a single micro home – an off-grid modular structure that would accommodate a hypothetical young professional couple.
You may use rooftop, however in this case it would need to be part of the 25m².
Underground construction can be proposed.
For the Microhome architecture competition, participants are invited to submit their designs for a single micro home – an off-grid modular structure that would accommodate a hypothetical young professional couple.
There is no defined building code that participants are asked to follow, however, we would recommend using Eurocode Building standards as a general guideline.
There is no maximum building height defined.
General questions
Click on "register now", fill in all the required fields, choose your payment method and submit your information. You will be forwarded to Paypal or CPS secure payment gateway, to cover the competition fee. Once we receive your payment, we'll send you an email with your username and password to upload your submission directly to the website.
You can add/remove/edit team member information as often as you want in the upload panel, up until the submission deadline.
Only one proposal per registration is permitted. Participants are entitled to register multiple times if they wish to participate in the competition with several proposals.
Yes we are in the process of negotiating with multiple international industry-related media representatives. The list of media partners is constantly updated on our website, please check it regularly to find latest updates.
Yes. If the jury panel selects a Student award's submission for the top 3, it will automatically be awarded both prizes.
Yes. If the jury panel selects a Sustainability award's submission for the top 3, it will automatically be awarded both prizes.
No. Competition entries are evaluated anonymously. The participant registration type is only revealed upon the announcement of the results.
Please contact us – [email protected] and we will address the problem directly.
The short answer is yes, you may submit a previously published design concept as long as you are the author. Before re-submitting your project, please carefully read the following clarification points listed here - architecturecompetitions.com/resubmit-your-design
As AI-generated images may be based on pre-existing work or generated using proprietary algorithms, it is best to check the specific terms and conditions of the AI tool used to generate the image to determine its ownership status. It may also be necessary to seek legal advice to fully understand the ownership rights and any restrictions that may apply. In general, it is not recommended to consider AI-generated images as your sole work or intellectual property unless you have obtained explicit permission to do so.
