Caring for Older People International Student Competition
69 competition entries were received in total for this competition including overseas entries from Albania, Canada, India, Russia, Singapore and the USA.
DWA Architects launched this international design competition to mark its 20th Anniversary and hoped the competition would encourage architects of the future to get involved in the design of the care homes of the future. The competition was sponsored by BUPA Care Services and managed by the RIBA Competitions Office.
The competition winners were:-
1st Prize – Jeremy Whall & Li shung Yeung, Birmingham School of Architecture
2nd Prize – Christopher Wilkins & Rachel Witham, Cardiff University
3rd Prize – Marta Gonzalez Ruiz, Madrid University
Highly Commended schemes were:-
Lynsey Duncan & Sally Porritt, Leeds Metropolitan University
Thomas Fitzgerald, Edinburgh College of Art
Johan Zetterholm & Jonas Tjäder, Chalmers Technical University, Sweden
Prizes were awarded at a ceremony held at the RIBA HQ, in London on Thursday 26 March where students received their prize money and certificates from Angela Rippon, a celebrity supporter of the Alzheimer's Society.
David Ward, Chief Executive of DWA Architects commented: "I'd like to thank everyone involved in the event; our sponsor Bupa Care Services, our judges, the RIBA, the team at DWA and of course the entrants, who have helped raise awareness of the importance of effective and creative design in the care homes of the future.
"A tremendous amount of time and effort went into the submissions. I was incredibly impressed with the range of ideas and the forward-looking approach from all of the shortlisted entrants. Every scheme considered issues that are important now and will only become more important in the future - such as land shortage and the UK's ageing population."
Lyth Watson from Bupa Care Services said: "With more than 300 care homes in the UK and as a leader in dementia care we are always seeking ways to improve the lives and wellbeing of our residents."
"This competition has brought some extra innovative thinking to the collaboration that Bupa and DWA have forged over the past few years on a number of complex projects - from extensions to new builds like our new home in Ashford which should be underway later this year.
"It has been an exciting project and I have been impressed by the range of fresh, yet practical, designs that we have seen from around the world."
Jeremy Whall, 1st Prize winner commented: "We believe architecture has much to contribute to the quality of care environments, and would like to thank all those involved in organising the competition for this opportunity to showcase our ideas to professionals in the field of care provision. The lack of constraints in the brief allowed us to develop the concept of city centre care provision to its fullest, and it has been a great honour to win a competition that has produced so many interesting ideas from other entrants."