The winning Katus pre-fab house designs for Estonia and Norway

Estonian online architecture marketplace Katus recently announced the winning designs for their modern pre-fab house competition. Organized by Katus in colloboration with prefab house builders Nurban and Kodumaja, participants had to design high-quality --  yet low-cost -- contemporary housing concepts for building with wood. The competition sites were Svertingstad Gård in Stavanger, Norway and Ülenurme near Tartu, Estonia.

The jury was pleased with participation in the competition, which brought in entries from 21 countries. Three prize winners were selected for each site.

Ülenurme, Estonia winners:

• 1ST PRIZE 4,000€ : Private Circle
• 2ND PRIZE 2,500€: See
• 3RD PRIZE 1,500€: Trfghm
• SPECIAL MENTION: Postbarn
• Velux Award for the best use of skylight in a house: Bok-Bok

Svertingstad Gård, Norway winners:

• 1ST PRIZE 5,000€: Nihe (best terraced house)
• 2ND PRIZE 3,500€: Woody (best apartment building)
• 3RD PRIZE 2,000€: Rhc1pa

The authors of the winning entries will be revealed during the opening ceremony of the exhibition at Solaris Centre in Tallinn, Estonia on March 23.

ÜLENURME, ESTONIA

1ST PRIZE: Private Circle

Read the project text here.

2ND PRIZE: See

Project description excerpt: "SPATIAL CONCEPT - The three plots in Ülenurme raise quite a challenge. Two of the plots indicate that entrances can be placed to the north and therefore living room can be placed in the south facing the greenery of the plot. But the third plot has the entrance on the south side which would leave the living room facing the north side. Driven by the need to be as flexible as possible we are proposing a type solution. The plan has been designed so that the entrance lobby can be located in the north (type a) as well as in the south (type b). All other rooms remain in their location. With east-west orientation type a placement can be applied. This small manipulation allows the row house to be applied on any plot possible..."

More project details here.

3RD PRIZE: Trfghm

Project description excerpt: "ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT: 4 Box House is a single prefabricated timber house conceived as a unit of a row house development.  The house is made with 4 modular volumetric elements constructed off side with timber cross laminated boards. Two boxes, one on each floor, accommodate the ‘serving spaces’ (entrance, circulation, bathroom, laundry, technical room, wc), while the other two, one per floor, accommodate the ‘served spaces’  (living/dining/kitchen area, main bedrooms). The functions are further organized keeping the ‘night area’ on the second floor and leaving the ‘day area’ on the first. The boxes are not piled evenly but slightly staggered. This shift generates a more interesting facade, with lights and shadows breaking the flatness of the traditional prefabricated houses. Moreover the shift generates external covered areas and two balconies..."

More project details here.

SPECIAL MENTION: Postbarn

Project description excerpt: "How is a row house for a rural postmodern context? What makes it recognizable? The program provided was asking for a quite standard family house, but gave the opportunity to build an outer, separated shelter. Why not [join] them? The traditional house for an agricultor included the space for tools, animals, food... the so called barn. The house of today has to accomplish the needs of today: a place to rest, a sauna, car parking, extra storage for hobbies, office... Our proposal tries to conform a solution that serves for both periods, a Postbarn..."

More project details here.

Velux Award for the best use of skylight in a house: Bok-Bok

Read the project text here.

SVERTINGSTAD GÅRD, NORWAY:

1ST PRIZE: Nihe (best terraced house) 

Project description excerpt: "Introduction: The main concept of the houses in the planned area is to play with the proportions of the buildings, while at the same time exposing their wooden facades.  Facade composition is based on two harmoniously contrasted materials, darker and lighter wood and joining accent detail. Siding is choosen to be 140mm and 35mm wide. Accent is 10 mm thick galvanized metal skearting around lighter boards.  Darker boards will act like calm background, in which lighter boards with windows form balanced composition.  Differnt buildings use same composition principles but are carried out with adjusted proportions according to building sizes..."

More project details here.

2ND PRIZE: Woody (best apartment building)

Project description excerpt: "The space between the townhouses is treated as a continuing landscape that will not be fenced. The space widens for two common areas: a public square for community activities and a playground for children. The parking places for bicycles are gathered to the areas’ entrances forming 3 small pavilions that act as an imaginary border for more private area between the rowhouses..."

More project details here.

3rd Prize: Rhc1pa

Project description excerpt: "The idea of the project was to design attractive form for modular houses and creating expressive forms associated with the environment, taking into account the scale of the assumptions and interaction with the landscape of the town.  Irregular urban planning assumptions and various buildings overall dimensions constitute a mirage consisting of light and shadow thrown over the roofs of the houses by combining extending green areas with the sky in the form of a zigzag random sketched on the horizon.  Inside the assumption avoids the effect of the walls of the maze created by successive groups of the buildings through solid geometry of the houses. Scattered by irregular roof line light gives the unique individual character anywhere in the area developed. Low walls define the areas of the particular buildings and serve as benches to create additional space integration the inhabitants..."

More project details here.