Bee Breeders has announced the Mega Dunes Ecolodges competition, tasking participants with creating sustainable designs for lodges that can be replicated throughout the protected areas of Abu Dhabi.

The Arabian Oryx was once considered extinct, yet its numbers are slowly increasing thanks to the efforts of organisations like the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency. The Mega Dunes Ecolodges competition is an opportunity for the agency to entice more visitors to the park and see the Arabian Oryx in its natural habitat.

For this architecture competition, participants are tasked with creating sustainable designs for lodges that can be replicated throughout the protected areas of Abu Dhabi. As the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency is interested in constructing 25 huts across the park, sustainability the key focus, with each hut needing to be able to accommodate guests and provide a degree of comfort in which to view the striking natural landscape and observe the Oryx up close.

The final registration deadline is May 1, 2020, and winners of the US $7,000 prize will be announced on July 2, 2020.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and is home to rich, natural biodiversity which includes a number of unique desert-dwelling species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world, including the Arabian Oryx. The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) is one of the driving forces behind efforts to maintain the emirate’s dwindling natural population, setting up and maintaining a number of environmentally protected areas. 

Established in 2018, the “Sheikh Zayed Protected Areas Network” consists of 13 terrestrial protected areas and covers over 15% of Abu Dhabi’s territory. The Qasar Al Sarab Protected Area covers 1304 square kilometers in which the Arabian Oryx roams freely; and the Arabian Oryx Protected Area, which covers 5975 square kilometers, is home to the largest population of Arabian Oryx in the world. 

In order to maintain public interest in these amazing creatures, and allow the public to view them up close, the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) are looking to create a series of sustainable visitor lodges that can be positioned throughout the protected area. The key design feature would need to be sustainability, in such sensitive natural environments, the visitor lodges must not have a negative impact on the environment of the protected areas or any species living within.

The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) is interested in constructing approximately 25 units within their protected areas, as such winning designs will need to involve creative solutions for construction and operation within these delicate environments, while at the same time providing an exciting and comfortable experience for visitors.

Download full competition brief for more information!

Eligibility

Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum). Correspondence with organizers must be conducted in English; All information submitted by participants must be in English.

Prizes

Total prize fund: $7,000

1st prize: US $3,000 / Publications Certificate of Achievement

2nd prize: US $1,500 / Publications Certificate of Achievement

3rd prize: US $500 / Publications Certificate of Achievement

The client's favorite: US $1,000 / Publications Certificate of Achievement

BB Student Award: US $500  (more details here) / Publications Certificate of Achievement

BB Green Award: US $500 (more details here) / Publications Certificate of Achievement

The competition will select 6 Honorable Mentions.

Publication: The winners will get international art and design media coverage and will be featured on the Bee Breeders website and social pages. 

Certificate: Bee Breeders will also acknowledge the outstanding performance of all winners and honourable mentions with Certificates of Achievement.

Jury panel is composed of Audrey McKee from Renzo Piano Building Workshop in France, Carlos M Guimarães – depA, correspondent of A10 magazine in Portugal, Daniel Jacobs from SHoP Architects, New York City, USA, Gemawang Swaribathoro from OMA, Hong Kong, John Paul Rysavy from SHoP Architects, New York City, USA; And-Either-Or Austin, Texas and Brooklyn, New York, USA. See the competition's full jury panel here. 

Key dates for the competition

Closing date for registration: 1 May, 2020

Closing date for project submission: 10 June, 2020 (11.59pm GMT)

Announcement of the winners: 02 July, 2020

Competition brief, photographs and 2D - 3D images of the site can be downloaded from the competition website. Contact Bee Breeders to receive special student rates for group registrations (discount applies for 3+ registrations from one university/school) and to receive further information and support for getting your students involved in architecture competitions. 

All images courtesy of Bee Breeders 

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