The One Heart Foundation has announced the winners of the Children’s Eco-Village Design Competition. Attracting 45 submissions from 21 countries, the brief asked participants to propose an environmentally-friendly campus for orphaned and abandoned children, to be built in Soy, Kenya.
The competition was won by Malaysian entrant Poo Liang Edric Choo and his team from Malaysian firm o2designatelier. His proposal across the eight-acre property will provide a home for 100 orphaned children, education for 500, skills training for the local community, an income-generating eco-farm, and 50 local jobs.
Choo’s design embraces vernacular architecture and local materials, and was praised by the judges for its aesthetic beauty and functionality. The designer’s intent was to demonstrate how architecture can go beyond good design, and positively contribute to people’s lives and living conditions.
Choo's design is a stunning concept that blends African influences, locally sourced materials and a certain warmth and nurturing sense of place – One Heart Foundation.
Second place was awarded to Suzy Syme & Andrew Costa, Master of Architecture students at the Universty of Queensland, Australia, whilst third place was awarded to Sunjana Sridhar and Nasim Amini of the United States. As the competition winner, Choo will now work with Melbourne-based firm ClarkeHopkinsClarke to realize the scheme, with work commencing in early 2018.
News via: ClarkeHopkinsClarke.