The winning SKYHIVE 2020 Skyscraper Challenge designs

The SKYHIVE 2020 Skyscraper Challenge ideas competition just revealed its results, selecting three prize winners, six honorable mentions as well as Student and Green Awards. Participants were tasked to envision innovative high-rise proposals on a hypothetical site measuring 130 x 80 meters (427 x 262 feet) which can be accessed by roads on two sides. 

Hosted by Bee Breeders for the third time now, the annual competition challenges architects and students to rethink the skyscraper typology for the 21st century.

1st Prize Winner & BB Student Award: The Biorefinery at Old Street
Daniel Hambly (United Kingdom), De Montfort University

Jury commentary: "The Biorefinery is sited atop a roundabout in the London borough of Hackney. This particular location was chosen for its history of pollution and Hackney’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. The project displays a fantastic collection of detailed sectional, perspective, and axonometric drawings. The tower’s form is defined by a unique set of tapering tubular forms, driven by its function as a combination of mineral-recovery, biogas-production, and waste-water-recovery facilities. This set of programs is infused with office and residential spaces, gardens, and atria. The building’s apex is designed as a machine of steel enclosing mechanical elements, reminiscent of both Paris’ Centre Pompidou and the guts of a typical oil refinery."

2nd Prize Winner: LOW-ENERGY | HIGH-RISE
David Ling (Canada), Harvard Graduate School of Design

Jury commentary: "This winning entry is designed for a site in Dubai, where energy consumption is mostly spent on keeping spaces cool. The facade is pocketed with articulated prefabricated window units, angled to capture prevailing winds and prevent direct sun exposure in the brutal afternoon heat. The tower is comparatively opaque compared with the typical fully-glazed surrounding buildings of the city. According to the jury, 'The project is characterized by an interesting ambiguity. It deals with the duality of cost and resources consuming construction of high-rise buildings, and an ecological approach.' The building ‘breathes’: its structural system is integrated with hollow-core concrete walls and slabs to bring cooled air through the building, channeled from floor plates to walls to flush out warm air."

3rd Prize Winner: VERTICAL CITY
Carlo Alberto Guerriero (Italy)

Jury commentary: "Titled Vertical City, the submission attempts to find a balance between the connectivity and articulation of traditional low-rise streets, and the banal disconnection of the typical skyscraper. It relies on a system of cable cars at mid-height to link the tower with the surrounding city. The cable car station is programmed with outdoor gardens, shops, and restaurants. The lower half of the building contains an agri-food market, hotel, offices and residences, while the upper half contains the commercial and public spaces of a cinema, library, auditorium, and a sports center. This organization flips the programming of the standard high-rise as it has evolved over the last century, which may be a hard sell for any developer (higher commercial revenues generally result from upper-floor residential and office spaces with better views). Nonetheless, the project is optimistic and encouraging."

BB Green Award: Ridge
Yiguan Liu, Julie Yang, Willy Zhou, Grace Qian (Canada), University of British Columbia 

To learn more about the winning entries and see the honorable mentions, visit the SKYHIVE competition website.