An Australian charity has launched an international design competition, calling on architects to submit a masterplan for a Kenyan children’s village.
The winning design team will partner with Melbourne-based architectural firm Clarke Hopkins Clarke on a pro bono basis to deliver the project over two years.
The competition is being organized by One Heart Foundation, an Australian-based “for-purpose” foundation that works in Kenya.
Founded in 2007 by Dean Landy, an architect and partner at Clarke Hopkins Clarke, the organization focuses on changing the futures of orphaned and abandoned children living in poverty in Kenya through a sustainable community development model.
The competition comprises two parts: the first is to masterplan a holistic children’s eco-village complete with facilities outlined in the competition brief and the second is to create a unique design solution for each facility.
The new village will be a sister campus to the original One Heart Village in Turbo, Kenya, which is home to 75 children and contains a primary school with 80 students.
Located in Soy Provence, Kakamega County, a rural area with a 53 percent poverty rate, the new village will comprise homes for 100 orphaned and abandoned children, a primary school, a secondary school, a skills training centre and a farm.
“We want to work with creative architecture students and recent graduates from around the world to develop a new village that is environmentally sustainable, low cost, simple to build and contextually responsive to the site, culture, climate and unique use,” said Landy.
Entries will be judged anonymously. An international panel including the Australian High Commissioner to Kenya, John Feakes, Breathe Architecture founding director Jeremy McLeod, ClarkeHopkinsClarke partners and Kenyan educationalists will judge the entries.
The competition winner will receive $2,000, while second place will receive $1,500 and third place $1,000.
Architecture students, graduates and practising architects are invited to enter the competition either individually or in a team.
Registrations open on 28 October and close on 18 November 2016. Design proposals are due on 16 December and winners will be announced in early 2017. Further competiton details are available on the One Heart Foundation website.
