International Architecture Competition

SKYHIVE

Skyscraper challenge! Edition #3 (2020)

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

SKYHIVE

The SKYHIVE 2020 Skyscraper Challenge is the third annual architecture competition by Bee Breeders seeking innovative concepts and ideas for an iconic high rise tower. Investigations that focus on unique structural methods, programmatic organization, facade typologies, forms, and building functions are encouraged.

As a building type, high-rises are subject to so many international and regional building codes, construction regulations, and financial limitations, that it is often difficult for real-world projects to be exploratory and novel. But even in the face of so many rules, standout projects find ways toward completion. This past year we witnessed the opening of a number of amazing towers around the world, such as: Zaha Hadid Architects’ 207-meter-tall twisting tower with the world's tallest atrium in Beijing, China; the 440-meter-tall torpedo-shaped CTF Finance Centre in Tianjin, China, by SOM; and the 350-meter-tall the sky-bridge-linked Raffles City Tower in Chongqing, China, by Safdie Architects. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 126 buildings of 200 meters or taller were completed in 2019.

For this particular competition, there is no defined site. Participants are free to select any hypothetical site measuring 130m x 80m which can be accessed by roads on two sides. The design can be set in the city of one’s choice, anywhere in the world. Projects typically considered successful are those designed with some relation and response to the chosen region’s skyline and context.

Submitted projects experimented with form and green building techniques, timber construction, and adaptive re-use. The jury evaluated each entry based on its sensitivity to site, the potential for the project to serve as a landmark, and especially its conceptual strength.

Bee Breeders would like to thank the participants for their design submissions. This third annual SKYHIVE competition continues to strengthen Bee Breeders’ continually-expanding repository of thought-provoking design ideas and drawings.

1st Prize Winner +
BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

The Biorefinery at Old Street

Authors

Daniel Hambly

University

De montfort university
+172 points Buildner University Rankings!

United Kingdom

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

The main reason I enter architecture vision competitions is to increase the reach and publicity of my projects. As a young designer, it can be hard to publicize your own work, especially at the beginning. Therefore, competitions can offer a fast track, as the design is often published across many platforms, meaning the audience it reaches is far greater.

Jury feedback summary

The Biorefinery is sited atop a roundabout in the London borough of Hackney. This particular location was chosen for its history of pollution and Hackney’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. The project displays a fantastic collection of detailed sectional, perspective, and axonometric drawings. The tower’s form is defined by a unique set of tapering tubular forms, driven by its function as a combination of mineral-recovery, biogas-production, and waste-water-recovery facilities. This set of programs is infused with office and residential spaces, gardens, and atria. The building’s apex is designed as a machine of steel enclosing mechanical elements, reminiscent of both Paris’ Centre Pompidou and the guts of a typical oil refinery.

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

LOW-ENERGY | HIGH-RISE

Authors

David Ling

University

Harvard graduate school of design
+92 points Buildner University Rankings!

Canada

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Vision competitions are thought experiments for designers. They’re great prompts to hone your skills, define ideas and collaborate with friends. The exposure they offer is also an attractive benefit.

Jury feedback summary

This winning entry is designed for a site in Dubai, where energy consumption is mostly spent on keeping spaces cool. The facade is pocketed with articulated prefabricated window units, angled to capture prevailing winds and prevent direct sun exposure in the brutal afternoon heat. The tower is comparatively opaque compared with the typical fully-glazed surrounding buildings of the city. According to the jury, “The project is characterized by an interesting ambiguity. It deals with the duality of cost and resources consuming construction of high-rise buildings, and an ecological approach.” The building ‘breathes’: its structural system is integrated with hollow-core concrete walls and slabs to bring cooled air through the building, channeled from floor plates to walls to flush out warm air.

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

VERTICAL CITY

Authors

Carlo Alberto Guerriero

Italy

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

The reasons are many, some more intimate and personal, others more rational and reasoned. More intimately, I participate in architectural vision competitions to give free rein to my creative trend and my ideas.

Jury feedback summary

Titled Vertical City, the submission attempts to find a balance between the connectivity and articulation of traditional low-rise streets, and the banal disconnection of the typical skyscraper. It relies on a system of cable cars at mid-height to link the tower with the surrounding city. The cable car station is programmed with outdoor gardens, shops, and restaurants. The lower half of the building contains an agri-food market, hotel, offices and residences, while the upper half contains the commercial and public spaces of a cinema, library, auditorium, and a sports center. This organization flips the programming of the standard high-rise as it has evolved over the last century, which may be a hard sell for any developer (higher commercial revenues generally result from upper-floor residential and office spaces with better views). Nonetheless, the project is optimistic and encouraging.

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Ridge

Authors

Yiguan Liu
Julie Yang
Willy Zhou
Grace Qian

University

University of british columbia
+78 points Buildner University Rankings!

Canada

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Participating in an architecture vision competition provides us with the chance to collaborate with peer students. We are more motivated by working as a team instead of working alone. This type of competition also evaluates our knowledge and practical skills in the field of design and architecture and broadens our vision by competing with talented people around the world.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

Skylines

Company

Lissoni casal ribeiro spa

Country

Italy

Project authors

Piero Lissoni
Joao Silva
Fulvio Capsoni
Davide Apolloni

Project Name

HIERARCHY TOWERS

University

Moscow institute of architecture | markhi
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

Russian Federation

Project authors

Gennadiy Kraev

Project Name

Tessellated Timber Ribs - Ramped Moment Frame

University

California college of the arts
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

United States

Project authors

Sergio Esquinca
Daniel Ramirez
Alhakam Alaedh
Adrian Salinas

Project Name

LOOP IN THE SKY

Country

Italy

Project authors

Flavian Basile
Mariarosaria Savoia
Marika Maio
Flavio Maio

Project Name

Sky Gardens

Country

United States

Project authors

Alejandra Rojas

Project Name

ELEVATE

Country

United States

Project authors

Mike Sudolsky
Patrick Tria
Lemuel Urbano

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

Mexico

Universidad Anáhuac México Norte, Anáhuac University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
fabrizio vignettes beristain

Canada

Harvard Graduate School of Design

+92 points Buildner University Rankings!
david ling

United States

California College of the Arts

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
sergio esquinca
daniel ramirez
alhakam alaedh
adrian salinas

United States

Yale School of Architecture

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
nikita klimenko
nikita shpakov

Russian Federation

Moscow Institute of architecture - MARHI , Московский архитектурный институт - МАРХИ

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
gennadiy kraev

United Kingdom

De Montfort University , Leicester

+172 points Buildner University Rankings!
daniel hambly

United States

USC - University of Southern California

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
john gerard perez
christina shin

United States

University of Pennsylvania

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
ian lai

Italy

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
yinglei li
yifei mi
tong li
hamza yaseen

Italy

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
shkelqim musiqi
elvis karavianskii
sofia manferdini
elio zeiater nassar

United Kingdom

adrian coelho
edward ednilao

Italy

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
made harris kuncara
alessandro azzolini
hong ngoc pham
benart shala

United States

johan cheah
raymond castro
christian pena
draven pointer

Italy

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
pauline duléry
simone perilli
sevval derebey

United Kingdom

Artes london

alexander herrera-rojas
kasia ziolkowska
jorge luis socha

Italy

Lissoni casal ribeiro spa

piero lissoni
joao silva
fulvio capsoni
davide apolloni

United States

mike sudolsky
patrick tria
lemuel urbano

Italy

flavian basile
mariarosaria savoia
marika maio
flavio maio

United States

SCI-Arc, Southern California Institute of Architecture

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
corina dow
santiago alvarez

Hungary

károly lehel kovács
tamás kovács
gergely sági
schvarckopf csaba

Italy

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
kristina perkova
serra gokkaya
mina javanfardkalyan
tuba betul kara

United States

phil burkett
sam turner
vaughn forman
heather witmer

Argentina

lucas meneghetti
tomás meneghetti
montserrat cadena velasco

United States

Bkv group

jonathan delcambre
brent holdman
cesar salgueiro
nam phan

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein University (Universität Liechtenstein)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
christina schwalm

Canada

University of British Columbia

+78 points Buildner University Rankings!
yiguan liu
julie yang
willy zhou
grace qian

Singapore

joey teh
bryant lau
andre lim

Hong Kong

Chinese University of Hong Kong

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
ck cheuk kin kong
koon kau ho
anthony ka ho leung
wallace chung cheuk hang

Austria

Liechtenstein University (Universität Liechtenstein)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
miriam gohm

United States

michael stanley
anna lukens

United Kingdom

fernando garcia blanco
elena casini
antonio lara perez
 

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Creativity gym Short term competitions for you to exercise your creativity

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Submit your online portfolio!

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registration deadlines

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Apr 30
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Competition results

MICROHOME

MICROHOME

Small living, huge impact! Edition #4
Hong Kong 
Pixel Homes

Hong Kong Pixel Homes

Affordable Housing Series #2
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