International Architecture Competition

Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge

Affordable Housing Series #4

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge

Official Partners

Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge

As history has shown, affordable housing relies only in part on design. Its success is dependent on a number of complex factors including trends in the housing market, local and regional incomes, zoning, and land use policies. The construction or re-purposing of affordable housing infrastructure requires the support of politicians, city planners, and residents. Even when cities have had the best of intentions for such housing developments, results have often proven to be less-than-promised, due to failure enacting strong policies, poorly-chosen locations far from public transit networks, and faulty design solutions, among other variables. The Sydney Affordable Housing competition aimed at garnering global attention to the important issue of housing in Sydney, Australia, where the economy is strong but where residential space is among the least affordable according to surveys of major metropolitan markets.

The competition attracted a range of proposals that addressed this sensitive topic at all scales. As the design brief outlined, the jury evaluated proposals based on flexibility, and applicability to different locations across the city. The competition set no specific sites, and participants were requested to choose a theoretical site or collection of sites within Sydney. The jury evaluated equally those submissions proposed in the suburbs, and those inserted within the densest parts of the city.

A number of trends were evident in the proposals. Particularly noticeable was modular design. The jury evaluated positively those proposals which sought to create livable housing spaces, over those that attempted to make sense of interesting but altogether difficult modular geometries. Stacked hexagons, beehive forms, cubic buildings, prefabricated units that stack in different organisations over time, and the use of shipping containers were examples of typologies proposed in multiple submissions, many of which were successful.

Another topic several proposals sought to tackle was affordability of construction: prefabrication; adaptive re-use of materials from existing infrastructure; locating obsolete, under-used, or under-valued sites within Sydney; establishing completely new financing models based on leveraging the tech industry, or municipally-owned lands like streets, highways, and park systems; or balancing profit-earning commercial spaces with low-income housing units. The most interesting submissions offered much more than just affordable housing, and included larger-scale urban plans for commercial spaces, transit-oriented development, transportation hubs, and green spaces, in an attempt to give new value to lands, thereby recapturing development costs.

The jury reviewed each of the proposals and asked: What is specific to Sydney about the design? Does the idea have potential to offer real affordable housing solutions? Does it also strengthen the city fabric in some other way? Even if abstract and conceptual, can it push the city to reconsider housing in new ways? Bee Breeders was impressed with the range of submissions and would like to thank each participant.

Enter the next
competition edition!

ideas COMPETITION
Los Angeles Affordable Housing Challenge
Affordable Housing Series #16

Design affordable housing solutions in Los Angeles

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Jun 07
Sep 07
Nov 01
Register now

Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge

Affordable Housing Series #4
1st Prize Winner

Project name

Bridging Affordable Housing

Authors

Tae Jung
Pauline Sipin
Hazel Ventura
Diana Lopez

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Through the NIKA Creative Lab, we are always looking for ways to cultivate new ideas in a collaborative ‘lab’ environment. Vision competitions are the perfect place to test and build a conceptual model of organic design ideas that can influence research and real projects in future.

Jury feedback summary

The jury's favorite proposal succeeds in offering Sydney both a new housing network and a network of green spaces. 'Bridging Affordable Housing' is comprised of a simple module: a structural bridge pier with decking that contains prefabricated housing units topped by a green roof. The proposal recalls the re-purposed railways that have become NYC's successful Highline or Paris' Coulée verte'. One can imagine this new elevated linear housing/park snaking through Sydney organically, growing from multiple locations and eventually merging like connective tissue within the city. The jury encourages the designer to further develop the proposal, so one may get a sense of what it might be like to live in such a space suspended above the city streets: How are the interior spaces organised? How do they relate to the garden above?

2nd Prize Winner +
BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Newborn in the Crevice

Authors

Xu Jiatong
Gao Xinyuan
Shi Ying

University

Shanghai institute of visual arts
+148 points Buildner University Rankings!

China

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We sincerely hope that through the power of architecture, we can eliminate the imbalances and inequalities among the urban classes and find a dignified way of living for the low-income groups.

Jury feedback summary

'Newborn in the Crevice' is a vertical or linear collection of cubicle housing blocks intended to fit into existing narrow sites within Sydney's dense center. The underlying grid by which the blocks are organised avoids monotony with a collection of colorful openings of various sizes, which give the overall simple form a playful and dynamic quality. The interior section with its range of stacked and linear spaces is particularly effective. It includes housing units in addition to common spaces. While the argument for constructing alongside existing high-rise buildings is perhaps the least probable (how does one convince existing building owners to give away their highly-valued views?) the jury would be interested in seeing this project take real form.

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

TOD and Waterfront Housing

Authors

Olga Filipowska
Tomasz Twaróg

University

Podhale state college of applied sciences in nowy targ
+76 points Buildner University Rankings!

Poland

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

For us participation in architecture vision competitions is a great opportunity to develop our skills and broaden our perspective. Most importantly we treat this as a new experience and we wouldn’t be able to have this sitting around doing nothing.

Jury feedback summary

'TOD and Waterfront Housing' takes the form of stacked prefabricated units floating within the bays of Sydney. TOD, or transit-oriented development, is the basis of design on an urban scale. In particular industrial waterfront sites are proposed to be rethought as points of housing with commercial space at the periphery of the dense city, set along a rail system to reduce the need for cars. The jury is skeptical of the case for 'expansion' of units once built but it is certainly a topic to be explored. Water-based construction avoids increased congestion on the streets of Sydney and has many potential benefits for the city's extensive waterfront.

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Water smart home Sydney

Authors

Kevin Pham
Alex Hoang

Australia

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We are interested in creating designs that are driven by social causes, context-related, environmentally sustainable and have positive influences on people’s lives.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

The Green Line

University

The university of melbourne
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

Australia

Project authors

Derek Huynh
Raj Gandhi
Tony Yu
Ong Eik Ren

Project Name

In between city: Harbour Life

Country

Australia

Project authors

Sylvain Garcia
Camille Grand-Dupré

Project Name

Affordability of the 21 Century

Country

Netherlands

Project authors

Yun-shih Chen
Antoine Canazzi

Project Name

Urban Infill

Country

Australia

Project authors

Brent Winburn
Lachlan Joseph

Project Name

Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge

Country

South Korea

Project authors

Junyoung Hong

Project Name

The Flat that grows

Country

Australia

Project authors

Giang Vu
Hiep Che
Cuong Hoang
Duong Dang

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

Australia

University of Sydney

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
feliccia monteiro

Poland

Silesian University of Technology , Politechnika Śląska

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
agata tomińska

Thailand

Sook architects company limited

rujnumporn keskasemsook
nuttachat kosintranont
warittha leelasestaporn
sira temjai

India

Studio gritt

nithin antony
sharannya kt
kritika jeff

Australia

brent winburn
lachlan joseph

Egypt

maha atef
wafaa nadim
joy samuel
yara salama

India

rishi thirth bennabhaktula
hanisha thirth bennabhaktula
ramathirtha bennabhaktula

Australia

Calder flower architects

lara calder

Australia

sylvain garcia
camille grand-dupré

Iran

Shavmadbana

odyssey babasadeghian
sara ahmadi
mehrnaz kashiri
mazdak irani

United States

Harvard Graduate School of Design

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
robert meyerson

United States

tae jung
pauline sipin
hazel ventura
diana lopez

Russian Federation

Apex project bureau

aleksandr umnyashov
akmaral khasen
mariya surzhko
victor timofeev

Australia

Sandbox studio architecture & design

mukesh vanjani
luke carter
dain mcclure-thomas

Cyprus

The University of Nicosia, UNIC

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
chariton lazarides

Greece

The University of Nicosia, UNIC

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
tatiana idalia ioannidou martinez

Cyprus

The University of Nicosia, UNIC

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
nicolas ioannou

Cyprus

The University of Nicosia, UNIC

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
nurshan arpalikli

Poland

Podhale State College of Applied Sciences in Nowy Targ, Podhalańska Państwowa Uczelnia Zawodowa w Nowym Targu

+76 points Buildner University Rankings!
olga filipowska
tomasz twaróg

China

Shanghai Institute of Visual Art

+148 points Buildner University Rankings!
xu jiatong
gao xinyuan
shi ying

Australia

Queensland University of Technology, QUT Gardens Point Campus

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
yat tin yuen
eric gar jun li

Australia

arddy berylian
tirza hutagalung

Italy

luca soldati
simone zanini
roberto faccin
carlo andrea vescovi

Poland

Poznan University of Technology , Politechnika Poznańska

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
aleksandra kramnik
adrianna lenkowska

Netherlands

yun-shih chen
antoine canazzi

Australia

The University of Melbourne

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
derek huynh
raj gandhi
tony yu
ong eik ren

Australia

yi-ju tseng
ines benavente molina

Saudi Arabia

mansour alhazmi
abdulrahman nahas

Australia

michelle stark
kainaaz variava
jahni glasby

Australia

giang vu
hiep che
cuong hoang
duong dang

Russian Federation

sergei zhuromskii
olga zhuromskaia

United States

michael carrizosa
rachel crowe

Germany

benedikt hartl
thomas haseneder

United States

SAIC, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
carrie jim
jessica moon

United States

catty dan zhang
mahdi ghavidel-sedehi
noah nelson
teagan dorsch
 

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Competition results

MICROHOME

MICROHOME

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Hong Kong 
Pixel Homes

Hong Kong Pixel Homes

Affordable Housing Series #2
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