Maunsell Forts competition winners pitch reuse ideas for WWII offshore structures

Competition organizer IDOARCH has released the results of their Maunsell Forts competition. The ideas contest centered on the series of defensive forts built during World War II off the coast of the United Kingdom. 

“Constructed in the 1940s, these massive steel and concrete structures rose out of the sea as small cities on stilts — strong, functional, and completely self-sufficient,” organizers said. “Today, the forts are empty, weathered by salt and time, standing as monuments of human ingenuity and resilience. They remind us how architecture responds to urgent needs — and how even in crisis, design can be bold, experimental, and transformative.”

The competition called for designers to reimagine the forts and ask how they can be reused for a new purpose. The structure of the forests must be kept, while new modular extensions could be added using recycled and durable materials. The proposals must also be self-sufficient and flood-resistant.

The winning entries were as follows:

First Prize: Disarm Maunsell Forts by Alvaro Poblete (Chile)

Second Prize: Dual Ring Rainwater by Pablo Castro (Argentina)

Third Prize: Maunsell’s Ark by Vignesh Prabhakaran - Akshaya Priya V S (India)

Honorable Mention: Maunsell Forts by Sergey Smirnov (Russia)

Honorable Mention: Maunsell Future City by Ramón Ruiz Abad - Juan Alberto Martínez González (Spain)

Honorable Mention: MAUNSELL ATOLL by Semyon Golubchikov - Yegor Rayshin (France)

Honorable Mention: The Breathing Forts by Mathilde Olsen (Denmark)

Honorable Mention: Between Sea and Sky by Natalya Bekova - Alyona Kokueva (Russia)

Honorable Mention: The ARCH-BUOY: Resurrecting Maunsell Forts by Quy Ngo Thanh - Binh Nguyen Vuong (Horizonlab) (Vietnam)

Honorable Mention: Sea Signal Survival by Ngoc Yen Nhi Pham - Ngoc Khanh Thy Nguyen -Thanh Minh Nguyen - Quoc Khang Dang (Vietnam)

Honorable Mention: Between Tight and Light by Yuhan Zhang (China)

Honorable Mention: MAUNSELL REEF COMMONS by ROAD (Oleksandr Riabokin) (Ukraine)

Honorable Mention: Life between Structure by Wirunpatchara Charoenchotsung - Napatporn Yamket - Oracha Tumthong (Thailand)