House re-Growth Competition Announces Winners

The prize winners of the Australian re-Growth House competition have been announced today.
The competition, organized on behalf of the people of Victoria that lost their homes in the Black Saturday bush fires, sought inspirational design ideas that can offer a way, for residents who have lost their homes to the bush fires, to re-build.

The first stage of the competition attracted 36 entries that were assessed anonymously, with seven shortlisted.

The panel included Adam Kalkin, Marcus Trimble, Dan Honey, Peter Johns and Stoney and Jacqueline Black, a family that lost their home in the fires and are now living in the re-Growth Pod.

The four prize winning proposals were submitted by:

1st - Tanked
Tom Morgan - Sharkmouse (first prize)

“High level of creativity and innovation.”

“A simple, intelligent and level headed approach to bushfire mitigation looking at better ways to defend homes.”

In the wake of the devastating fires that ripped through the communities of Kinglake and Marysville the issue of survivability came to the fore. Much of the dialogue centred on the nature of the building fabric – on material properties. Inevitably, the planning guidelines seized upon intuitive understandings – that timber, as a flammable material, was to be abhorred, and masonry and concrete construction to be lauded.  Yet reality is often counter-intuitive – some of the buildings that survived were timber, and many that were destroyed were of masonry construction. The deciding factor in the persistence of some structures seems to have been the presence of an aware, prepared resident with sufficient water-pressure to fight back spot fires after the main fire-front had passed by.

The solution, rather, is to focus on simple systems – to accept the dangers of the locale, but to remember that people did survive; primarily those with fire plans, and fire-fighting systems to match the plans.

Tanked is a rapidly deployable adjunct to the re-Growth Pod. It is ready for immediate inhabitation but is intended to be augmented with more permanent structures. The fire-suppression system is gravity fed, reducing reliance on fickle two-stroke fire-pumps at the crucial juncture. Eaves and under-crofts are banished; reducing the chance of stray ember spot-fires.  Tanked addresses such needs with a system that presents the best defense against future fires, while acknowledging the inherent dangers and responsibilities of the locale.

2nd - Re-Growth House

Umberto Emoli - Emoli Petroschka Architects  (equal second prize)

“High level of creativity and design innovation.”

“Cost effectiveness and buildability questionable. More complex response to bushfire mitigation.”

2nd - Untitled

Shane Plazibat - plazibat+jemmott architects (equal second prize)

“It is do-able, is potentially economic, is configuarble to different sites, looks good, and could perform well. It is strong on both idea and pragmatism.”

“The pod remains integral and useful, it doesn’t become a back yard shed or granny flat to the ‘buds’. The ‘fork’ plan allows the buds to be oriented towards sun or views, yet allow protection from winds. The pod doesn’t need to self-replicate, as many of the other metabolic-inclined entries suggested. This can be built on site, with local labour, materials flexible.”

“It is a modest proposal that manages to be both sensitive and symbolic.”

3rd - Outpost 2.0

Traian Cimpeanu (third prize)

“The design within the environment is outstanding.  Uniquely Australian and rural.”

Images: House re-Growth Competition