Winners of the 2018 Passivhaus Student Competition

As the summer draws closer, Universities have been a hive of activity with exams, end of year shows, and final deadlines. Check out the latest rising talent to come out of 5 UK Architecture Schools equipping the next generation of designers to deliver low energy buildings.

After an accumulation of Passivhaus tutors, informative seminars, software tutorials, inspiring study tours, and exhibitions – Participating Universities have shortlisted their top 3 Passivhaus projects for the judges consideration. Now in its third year, the Passivhaus Student Competition, sponsored by Tarmac, is happy to announce the 2018 winning & highly commended schemes:

WINNER: Creative College Bristol: Soontawnkrut, Tang, & Yang
	Creative College in Bristol aims to design a sustainable and healthy learning environment for young international students by following Passivhaus and BREEAM standard. Judges liked the pleasant outdoor spaces, that are well integrated into the landscape. There was clear analysis and development of window placement & building orientation via designPH. University of Bath Shortlist: Abubakar I Alenazi Luo I Lim I Jahja Pan I Tong I Zhu
WINNER: Recharge Valletta, Tim Hornsby
	The Recharge Valletta Project is a multi-storey complex, consisting of taxi storage/charging below ground, and EV charging, offices, and residential above ground. Judges enjoyed the design iterations. Oxford Brookes Shortlist: Kate Brown Razia Anis Ahamed
WINNER: Time Machine Tower, Algafis & Li
	The driving concept is to provide elderly people with excellent city centre living, connecting with younger generations, in a mixed-use tall 'vertical city' located in central Manchester. The judges liked the testing of design options of an individual unit in a very complex & ambitions design. University of Nottingham Shortlist: Abhulgafar I Laonipon
WINNER: Dwelling, Chloe Summerill
	Transformation of a former brownfield site into 12 new-build terraces. The masterplan strategy looks at retaining the sites typography to support the use of levels to organise space and separate function. There was sound analysis in designPH modelling & development. University of West of England (UWE) Shortlist: Amy Whitten Andrew Kyle Williams
HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Lucerne Hydro-Power Museum, Al-Sawi, Kamase, & Suppa
	Judges enjoyed the journey through the building and thought that there was some good designPH modelling. Not all the circulation spaces would meet Passivhaus comfort requirements, so there was some concern about surface temperatures and condensation. With a few more design iterations, this has the potential to make a great Passivhaus scheme. University of Sheffield Shortlist: Ruiwen Deng Minghui Zhang
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Floating hydro-power museum Lucerne, Minghui Zhang
	The concept of a glazed box offering unrestricted views was well received, along with the analysis attempting to balance this with Passivhaus requirements. Although the scheme as presented does not quite meet Passivhaus criteria, it was felt that with a few more design iterations, the scheme could be pushed to meet the Passivhaus standard. University of Sheffield Shortlist above.

A huge congratulations to all the shortlists. Winners will be awarded at the official prize giving ceremony at the 2018 UK Passivhaus Conference in Leeds on the 13th November.

Join us on the 10^th of October at UK Construction Week, where we will exhibit the winning schemes in the hope of inspiring the next cohort of students for the launch of the 2018/2019 Passivhaus Student Competition.