<translation>Dřevěný dům 2010 has its competitors</translation>

Winning design of the Wooden House competition 2008 in the category family house. Authors: Josef Chybík and Ondřej Chybík.

In October of last year, under the patronage of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Czech Chamber of Architects, representatives of the Wood for Life Foundation, the Moravian-Silesian Woodworking Cluster, and the Association of Modular House Suppliers launched the third year of the Wooden House architectural competition.

By the submission deadline, 24 competitors had entered their exhibits into the competition. In category A, concerning realized energy-efficient family houses, there are three competition designs, and in category B, regarding low-energy family house designs, there are a total of 21 competition designs.
The aim of the competition is to select the best implementations and designs of wooden houses from an architectural perspective, which is meant as a symbiosis of form and function, aesthetic and structural aspects, ecological considerations, energy savings, and other criteria. Living in wood is becoming a global trend as it meets the demands for modern living while also adhering to the needs for economical use of natural renewable resources.
The organizers also intend to raise the demands of the competition conditions, thus setting a high standard for submissions. The aim is for every submitted exhibit to be fully realizable in practice.
“This year's competition is set up differently from the previous one. A strong emphasis was placed on requiring the authors to think through and prepare documentation that construction practice demands from designers, not just the formal aspects of the design. The competition conditions were developed in accordance with the criteria of the National Quality Document, according to which leading manufacturers of wooden buildings on the Czech market govern the scope of projects and the quality of production. Competitors had to meet a number of strict criteria. Besides the graphic and expressive aspects, it was necessary to fill out a Protocol for the energy label of the building envelope, document the thermal-technical properties of the proposed structures and their moisture protection, develop fire safety solutions for the building, and calculate the statics of the main load-bearing components. Moreover, part of the submissions included presenting solutions for the most pressing details in the house structures. Only such a comprehensive handling of the design can yield professional designers in the field of wooden structures. I was very pleasantly surprised by the high level and quality of compliance with these difficult and unusual criteria in the overwhelming majority of competition designs.” said the reviewer of the competition entries, Ing. arch. Petr Vala.
The competition designs were also viewed at a meeting by the jury, which excluded only one design from further evaluation due to significant formal deficiencies.
“While in previous years of the competition, young architects learned to process the energy label of the building, today they must master comprehensive documentation. The competition is really demanding in this regard. However, if competitions of this type are to have a broader educational value, then gradually increasing the demands is the right way. Czech architects working with wood have come a long way in a short time, and they must be demanding of themselves to withstand ever-tougher competition. However, the organizers face the question of how to motivate architects and companies to enter such a competition.” stated the vice-chairman of the jury, Ing. Jitka Beránková.

The official announcement of the competition results will take place on February 25 at the Wooden Buildings Fair in Prague – Letňany.

Children’s Chamber of Architects
As part of the III. year of the Wooden House architectural competition 2010, there is also a parallel competition for children from elementary art schools in Ostrava called the Children's Chamber of Architects. The subject of the competition is to create an artistic design of a house for living using wooden elements and other natural materials.
A total of 7 elementary art schools in Ostrava have registered for the children's competition, to which artistic materials in the form of wooden boards, sticks, cardboards, and similar items have been provided.
By February 10, we expect the delivery of projects in the form of three-dimensional designs of houses, which will then be evaluated by a jury composed of representatives of the Moravian-Silesian Woodworking Cluster, the Wood for Life Foundation, and the Association of Modular House Suppliers.