Competition for the Best Wooden House of the Year 2008

Under the patronage of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and other responsible ministries, the Czech Chamber of Architects, and the Wood for Life Foundation, the second year of the Wooden House architectural competition was launched today. The aim of the competition is to select the best designs for wooden houses in terms of architectural, ecological, energy-saving, and other criteria. Living in wood is becoming a global trend as it meets the demands for modern living while also addressing the need for efficient use of natural renewable resources.

Evaluation criteria include the architectural and artistic quality of the design, quality of volumetric, layout, and functional solutions, technological and structural sophistication of the solution, investment complexity in execution, and energy concept.
Accordingly, the amount of the established prizes for winning designs is set at 250,000 CZK in both categories. A total of 1,200,000 CZK will be distributed among prizes and awards.

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Information about the DŘEVĚNÝ DŮM 2008 architectural competition

The competition is announced by the Wood for Life Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Czech Chamber of Architects, the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians Active in Construction, and the Czech Union of Construction Engineers, under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, the Union of Entrepreneurs in Construction, the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic, and the Chamber of Commerce.

The competition is declared as a public anonymous ideation single-round.

The subject of the competition is a low-energy family and apartment building with substantial use of technology based on wooden elements, agglomerated wood products, or modular systems based on wood.

Two competition categories are announced:
1. Low-energy family house up to 150 m² of built-up area.
2. Low-energy apartment building with 4 - 9 residential units.
 
The purpose and mission of the competition is to select the best comprehensive architectural solutions for low-energy wooden houses suitable for residential use from the submitted competition proposals, i.e., the best concepts in terms of artistic, volumetric, layout, operational, functional, technological, and structural aspects, taking into account energy consumption and the level of implementation costs.

The goal of the competition is:
1) to offer quality, "audited" houses for various target groups of the public and builders
2) to support the realization of wooden buildings as the only commonly used domestic renewable building material within sustainable development and construction,
3) to emphasize the importance of project quality for the construction of wood-based buildings,
4) to enable especially the younger generation of architects and engineers to confront their views and ideas about modern wooden construction for housing in an international context,
5) to motivate designers and builders to implement healthy housing with minimal environmental impact, focusing on significantly reduced operational costs.

Participants of the competition:
Authorized architects or authorized engineers in the field of civil engineering from all countries of the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation may participate in the competition.

Basic deadlines of the competition:
The competition was announced on November 30, 2007.
Deadline for questions: until January 6, 2008
Deadline for answering questions: until January 14, 2008
Submission of competition proposals: until February 29, 2008, by 12:00 PM.
Judging sessions of the jury: March 14 and 17, 2008
Announcement: April 24, 2008, at the Brno International Building Fair IBF 2008.

The competition conditions are published at www.cka.cc

Regular jury members
Ing. arch. Kamil Mrva, independent, member of the Czech Chamber of Architects
Ing. arch. Josef Patrný, independent, member of the Czech Chamber of Architects
Ing. arch. Josef Smola, independent, member of the Czech Chamber of Architects
Bc. Petr Jureček, independent (winner of the Wooden House competition 2006.)
Ing. Václav Stránský, Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic
Ing. Jiří Fereš, Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
Ing. Ladislav Vaněk, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic

Substitutes of the jury
Ing. arch. Jaromír Kročák, independent, member of the Czech Chamber of Architects
Ing. Miroslav Urban, Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic

Secretaries of the competition:
Dita Pavelková (Czech Chamber of Architects)
Ing. Jan Řezáč (Wood for Life Foundation)