RESET Development are pleased to announce the winners of the first ever UK Integrated Habitats Design Competition, run in association with CIRIA and livingroofs.org. The competition focuses on valuing biodiversity in the built environment and received a wide range of entries from participants around the country which included submissions not only from architects, but from engineers, landscape designers and students. The success of this years competition has now resulted in the IHDC becoming an annual event with the 2011 launch to take place next year.
You can see the winning proposals after the break.
The 2010 winning entry submitted by Maria-Cristina Banceanu, Edge Hill Halls of Residence in Liverpool, was an outstanding example of a holistic approach to design with nature at its heart.
“This project illustrates an impressive combination of clever site planning with attention to detail. This entrant really did interface with the brief, giving attention to local species of plants and biodiversity issues. There is practical integration of energy efficiency, water conservation and biodiversity features. This did not however compromise the wider of issues of sustainability addressed in the scheme. The judges were charmed by the thoughtful inclusion of space for bats and birds.” – IHDC JUDGING PANEL
The runner-up, ‘Matripolis’, a brownfield development on the Swan Hunter site on the Tyne designed by Paul Jones and David Dobereiner, and the highly commended entry ‘The Seed Catalogue’, a masterplanning approach for Hull designed by team RED – also impressed the judges as both offered ways to integrate nature into dense urban sites.
The 3 prize-winning entries, along with the 5 other finalists, will be displayed as part of a 5 week public exhibition in the Cafe Gallery of the Building Centre, Store Street, from 14th September until 16th October. The entries can also be viewed online at www.ihdc.org.uk.
