Bee Breeders has announced the winners of the Teamakers Guest House competition, calling for design proposals for an eco-friendly, cost-effective accommodation to house visitors to the Ozolini teamakers retreat, situated in a forest 100 kilometers southeast of the Latvian capital of Riga.
Designers were asked to prioritize sustainability, and create a scheme with a positive impact on its environment. The chosen site focused on the remains of a two-story stone barn built in 1850, once used for drying and storing tea. Entrants were given the opportunity to retain the stone barn or reimagine it in a new way.
This competition is part of Bee Breeders' design competition series focused on small-scale architecture. It is run in partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS, which will publish a forthcoming book on the topic of small-scale architecture in 2020. Winning design competition entries will be considered for construction.
Below, we have published the three winners, and BB Green Award. For more information, visit the official website here.
First Prize Winner
T-House / Johann Evin
Jury comment: “T-house” flips the typical A-frame construction to a V-frame, permitting open spaces with high ceilings, and expressing the programmatic separation of the upper-level bedrooms on one side from a double-height workshop on the other. The new form made of wood, copper, and brass, is placed sensitively on the existing barn walls with a facade that opens up on two sides of the building by means of a brise-soleil system of louvers.
Second Prize Winner and BB Student Winner
The Teamakers Guesthouse / Virginia Pozzi, Alessandro Minotti
Jury comment: The jury was impacted by the sensitivity of the proposal to the existing barn. The designer has incorporated the remaining structure and found a new language for the barn, by topping it with a long roof that floats above a thin band of clerestory windows, and mirroring the existing stone walls with a second set of new walls clad in wood. The stone structure is programmed with large communal spaces while the new wooden structure is programmed with smaller individual guest rooms.
Third Prize Winner
Leafhouse – The Teamakers’ Workshop / STUDIO BIS (András Gyökér, Júlia Losonczi, Adham Shakaki)
Jury comment: ‘Leafhouse’ extends the site’s existing barn vertically with a light construction of well-crafted wooden elements. The proposal identifies the form of the building with that of a forest of trees, composed of a strong and opaque structural base topped by delicate and semi-transparent foliage. The most striking element of the design is the facade’s screen of wooden blocks strung onto metal cables, achieving the effect of a tree canopy, and allowing views to the exterior while partially shading the interior spaces.
BB Green Award
The Latvian (Green) Guesthouse / Martin van der Vijver, Bas van Oosterom, Baktash Ibrahimi
