Bee Breeders Announce Winners of Stone Barn Meditation Camp Competition

Written by Niall Patrick Walsh
Published on May 29, 2017

Bee Breeders have selected winners of the Stone Barn Meditation Camp competition, seeking to create a place of refuge for individuals amidst the pristine natural beauty of one of Latvia’s most remote regions. In announcing the competition results, the jury applauded the respect and regard shown to the environment by submitted schemes, commenting that the most successful projects stood out for their simplicity, elegance, and balance with nature.

The competition winners, including noted ‘Green’ and ‘Student’ schemes, are set out below.

+ 72

First Prize

Yulia Fedorenko, Aleksandr Fil, Anna Beketova, Bogdan Bondarenko / Bondarenko Group

The winning scheme was chosen due to its well-resolved shape, structure, and covering of both new and existing buildings. The scheme drew a strong contextual connection with the rural, natural landscape, with a thatched main building and side buildings dispersed along the site.

The close relationship with nature is well-conceived, with various forms of renewable energy incorporated, including geothermal, wind renewables and rainwater collection to lessen the environmental impact. The design’s strength comes from its clear and compact design, its effective use of space, and its effective sustainable strategy.

+ 72

Second Prize

Raúl Carbajal, Roxana Mendoza, Ana Marcela Pérez, Veronica Castro / Agave Arquitectos

The second prize winners were chosen for their clear approach, from conceptual through to architectural design. The stone barn forms a focal point for the scheme, entering a dialogue with new buildings to create a series of courtyards.

+ 72

Third Prize

Prajal Pradhan, Mahesh Maharjan, Prabina Sherstha, Sainaz Bajracharya / A for Architecture

The success of the third-place scheme lies in its preservation of the original stone barn, and creative positioning of adjacent structures. The design integrates the landscape into its insulation strategy with roof gardens, combining it with renewable geothermal energy to power the barn and its surrounding structures. The new design embraces the old, maintaining visual links with the existing structure.

+ 72

BB Student Award

Oleksandr Kostevych, Mariia Chorna, Weronika Różyło, Julia Gawlik / Politechnika Wrocławska

+ 72

BB Green Award

Konrad Kowalczyk

+ 72

News via: Bee Breeders.

Call for Submissions: Amber Road Trekking Cabins

The Amber Road trekking path is planned to allow long-distance hikers to traverse the country, reaching from the Latvia-Lithuania border to the Latvia-Estonia border. Receiving its name from the shiny specimens that wash up on the beaches to this day, the total length of the trekking path would be 530 km, and it would be included as part of one of the European long-distance paths, a network of 12 paths designated by the European Ramblers Association.

Pape Bird Observation Tower

The Pape Nature Park is home to a uniquely diverse ecosystem. There are a great number of protected plant, animal and bird species concentrated within the relatively small park area, which is located in the Nica and Rucava Municipalities in the South Western region of Latvia.

Call for Submissions: Adelaide Creative Community Hub

What makes a 'creative city'? And what capacity does architecture have to foster, inspire, or use to celebrate creativity within an urban environment? These questions are part of a growing discussion in Adelaide, Australia, surrounding what the city could be, and how to make Adelaide a more creative, vibrant, and innovative place to live.