Foreword
The Omuli Museum of the Horse competition tasked participants with redesigning and reimagining a historic educational building within the UNESCO-recognised North Latvia Biosphere Reserve, on a forested site 4 kilometres from the Latvia–Estonia border. Winning submissions will be considered for construction.
The Omuli Primary School, a 785 m2 building originally constructed in 1936, is planned to become a museum to educate visitors about the nature and history of local horse breeds. The 2.37 - hectare site is also intended to offer guest houses and artist-in-residence living and work spaces. The project is intended to be completed in three construction phases: 1- an artists' day workshop; 2- a long-term stay facilities for residencies; and 3- a guest house and a Museum of the Horse, comprised of exhibition halls or other suggested spaces.
The current owners of the building asked that participants be respectful of the structure’s historical significance in form and materiality. Designers were given the option to either restore and retain the building or reimagine it in new ways while making use of its existing envelope. As part of Bee Breeders’ drive towards sustainable innovation, and in tandem with the owners’ aspirations, Omuli Museum of the Horse will look to become a regional example for green building practice with cost-effective designs that place emphasis on sustainable building techniques. The jury panel focused on selecting proposals with strong, clear concepts that made use of natural materials.
Bee Breeders collaborated with an excellent team of jury members with a wide range of experience in equine-related architecture, sustainable construction, use of local materials, and complex conservation projects. The full jury panel included: Diego Baraona, founder of Chile-based DBAA – Diego Baraona Arquitectos y Asociados; Robin Dhar, Director at UK based historic building specialists, Donald Insall Associates, Architects; Meritxell Inaraja Genís, founder of Meritxell Inaraja Arquitecta in Spain; Joe Martinolich, founder of JMM – Joe Martinolich Architect; and Julie Nelson and Todd Poisson, partners at New York City-based design firm BKSK.
Bee Breeders and the competition jury panel would like to thank each of the participants for their outstanding proposals.
1st Prize Winner
Reflection of Life
The reason why we join competitions is that they provide us with a platform to spark our passion and create works freely. Due to various reasons, architects are often facing multiple restrictions in routine work. However, in this competition we can think more about current social issues and problems and pay more attention to the context of our designs. Through improving the design philosophy and updating the traditional design style, we strive to pursue optimum solutions.
Read full interviewJury feedback summary
The winning proposal highlights a quote by Luis Barragan, “A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.” The corresponding design consists of a simple horseshoe-shaped addition that creates an outdoor room to mediate between the existing school structure and the new building. According to the jury, “The proposal creates a beautiful precinct with appropriate deferential qualities to the landmark building. The spatial sequence here is particularly successful, as the new structure is revealed after experiencing the historic one. The incorporation and celebration of the exterior spaces is commendable. The new low-rise construction is respectful of the original building.” There were also criticisms of the proposal’s lack of focus on infrastructure for the site’s horses, and of the size and scope – with its expansive glazed walls – that may be too ambitious for the intended project.
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2nd Prize Winner
Site as a Museum
We participate in architecture competitions in order to build up and diversify our design portfolio, challenge ourselves, and obtain new skills.
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United Arab EmiratesJury feedback summary
The ambition of this proposal is to create a museum that equally celebrates the exhibitions and landscape. It is defined by three linear sunken forms housing the artists’ workshop and museum. The layout of this addition simultaneously creates a semi-enclosed courtyard that follows the dimensions of the existing building. According to the jury, “The strategy of the below-grade addition that forms a courtyard deftly celebrates the school structure yet integrates it into a whole site strategy. This project successfully addresses the challenges of public-private circulation and separation in a way that is surprising and spatially rich. The language of the addition, the proportion of rooms, simplicity of form, and integration with landscape through green roofs is particularly sophisticated.” The presentation was also praised for its clear linework and restrained color palette, which reinforce the project’s key ideas. The jury notes that the proposal could consider stronger visual or architectural linkages between the interiors of the existing building and those of the new.
3rd Prize Winner +
BB GREEN AWARD
BB GREEN AWARD
Omuli museum of the Horse
Architecture competitions have a key role in the development of young architects. They stimulate creativity among individuals or teams regardless of their professional experience and background. One the one hand competitions offer fascinating and complex projects to work on. On the other, they allow more freedom in the design process than in real-life projects.
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BulgariaJury feedback summary
This project of timber, corrugated sheet metal, and polycarbonate panels was a clear favorite among the jurors for its respectful integration into the setting and its equine focus. It is defined by a linear addition with a separate events space and stables topped by a single roof. The existing Omuli School building is opened up to natural daylight with a new translucent roof. The jury writes, “Deferring to the historic building's axial siting, this proposal steps aside and offers a flanking yet complimenting and delicate wing, beautifully rendered. The integration and strong inclusion of the horse stables and outdoor spaces is appealing and clearly distinguishes this as a museum about horses! The opportunity for interaction and observation of live horses seems absolutely spot-on. The simple form of the new structures is reminiscent of the type of working agricultural buildings that would be associated with horses of the area.”
BB STUDENT AWARD
Concentric
Architecture competitions gave us the opportunity to gain experience and grow up professionally. We think that besides the practice that we gain from these competitions, participating in them is a good way of observing how others perceive a task and respond to the same challenge. We are always looking for different types of competitions on various subjects to gain the upper mentioned experience and get out of our comfort zone.
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Romania
Client Favorite
Omuli Horse Museum
For fun and for the experience of crossing borders – literally and mentally.
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SlovakiaHonorable Mentions
Shortlisted projects
Chile
Novo architectures
France
Spain Omuli Horse Museum - Mixed realities
Chile
Norway
Japan 
Concentric
“ion mincu” university of architecture and urban planning
+78 points Buildner University Rankings!
Romania 
Site as a Museum
United Arab Emirates Omuli museum of the Horse
Bulgaria
Spain 
Belgium Museum of the Horse
United Kingdom Omuli Museum of the Horse
Greece XYZ nature
Israel MOMU - Museum of Omuli
Germany
Russian Federation
Mexico of woods and man
Poland Omuli Museum of the Horse
United States The Loop
France 
Poland
Poland
Spain Omuli Horse Museum
Slovakia
France
Romania
"ion mincu" university of architecture and urban planning
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Romania MISTERIUM
Wroclaw university of science and technology
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland
France
Bagua+bhava
Hong Kong
Institut national des sciences appliquées de strasbourg
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
France Reflection of Life
China THE-O-MULI-SEUM
Malaysia
Italy Project ID 40597
Romania
Italy 