Bee Breeders has announced winners for the Pavilosta Poet Huts competition called on designers to submit proposals for a writers community in the small coastal fishing village of Pāvilosta, Latvia, historically a port serving the nearby city of Liepāja. 

The jury was impressed by the well-rounded response and selected designs that offered strong proposals for communal complexes that captured both the ability for writers to work in isolation, as well as interact with fellow visitors.

First prize was awarded to a British student at the Accademia di Architettura Mendrisio, Daniel Brigginshaw, for his project ‘A garden within a garden’. This references traditional Baltic architecture and its use of local materials, collecting all of the program within a single structure. The project’s take on a courtyard-building typology lends to its intent on creating a sense of community for users.

Second prize went to Linnéa Holmberg, Maria Torrent, and Karl Zetterholm from BLANK ARKITEKTER AB in Sweden. Their ‘Enclosures’ project unifies the ideals of solitude and community, placing a single building in the center of the site enclosing a garden with a large tree and meditation zone.

Third prize was awarded to Katharina Kocol and Olga Bialczak from Technische Universität Berlin, Germany. ‘The Pitch Hut’ project included two bands of buildings facing an internal street, one providing writers’ accommodation while the other would be used for shared programs and host accommodation.

Daniel Brigginshaw's "A garden within a garden" project also received BB Student Award, while Margaux Loubser receiving BB Green Award with the project "Scrivum" from South Africa. 

See the full winning projects with jury comments below:

Images courtesy of the artist

1st Prize + BB Student Award: A garden within a garden by Daniel Brigginshaw, United Kingdom

Jury comments: ‘A garden within a garden’ references traditional Baltic architecture using local materials such as timber, and resourceful building methods. The design collects all of the program within a single structure. It offers a distinctly modern rectangular block form, articulated by a grid of vertical and horizontal lines of alternating thicknesses giving hierarchy to the form. The facade is defined by a square clerestory window set on horizontally-oriented rectangular facade panels. 

The project’s take on a courtyard-building typology lends to its intent on creating a sense of community for users. It intelligently mixes interior and exterior spaces  under a common roof, and provides views to both the interior shared space of the courtyard and the exterior site. The structure uses repeated assemblies for ease of construction. The dark exterior cladding is black-stained timber, while the interiors are light and simple to provide clean spaces for work and living. The project conveys its ideas clearly using simple drawings and thoughtful renderings.

The jury believes the project could be strengthened with an image depicting the relationship between the interior courtyard and the exterior site.

Read interview with Daniel Brigginshaw. 

Images courtesy of the artists

2nd prize: Enclosures by Linnéa Holmberg, Maria Torrent, Karl Zetterholm (BLANK ARKITEKTER AB), Sweden

Jury comments: ‘Enclosures’ also considers the writer as a worker that requires both isolation and community. The proposal places a single building in the center of the site, enclosing a garden with a large tree and meditation zone. The approximately circular form features a low profile with a pitched roof that covers a corridor on the interior side of the ring. The design uses a glulam primary structure clad with heartwood and plywood. In plan, enclosed spaces are interspersed with exterior covered terraces that offer permeability. The jury was impressed by the high quality of renderings and level of detail in the drawings. One can easily imagine a productive and quiet visit to this project. The jury questions whether alternative timber products might be considered that hold up longer to inclement winters and humid summers.

Read interview with Linnéa Holmberg, Maria Torrent, Karl Zetterholm. 

Images courtesy of the artists

3rd prize: The Pitch Hut by Katharina Kocol, Olga Bialczak (TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN), Germany

Jury comments: This proposal offers a unique formal organization defined by two bars of program connected by a linear circulation space, like two bands of buildings facing an internal street. The first houses writers’ accommodations; the second is filled with shared program as well as host accommodations. As with the other winning proposals, ‘The Pitch Hut’ mixes internal spaces with external decks. Each writer’s hut contains a large vertical window offering exterior views, and a horizontal window paired with a desk for views to a private terrace. The accommodations provide ample working space that runs nearly the length of the structure. The jury believes the submission would be further strengthened with interior images of the communal spaces.

Read interview with Katharina Kocol, Olga Bialczak. 

Images courtesy of the artist

BB Green Award: Scrivum by Margaux Loubser (UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE), South Africa

Read interview with Margaux Loubser.

Bee Breeders also selected 6 Honorable Mentions, please see 6 Honorable Mentions here. 

All images courtesy of Bee Breeders

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