Buildner has announced the results of its third annual Home of Shadows international architecture ideas competition. The competition series is designed to focus on the vital interplay between light and shadow in creating functional and inviting living spaces. It highlights the importance of natural light in home design, essential for creating comfortable, inviting, and practical environments.
Light is viewed as a language through which architects communicate emotions in their designs, with shadows playing an equally significant role in influencing the ambiance of a space. The balance between light and shadow allows for the creation of spaces with depth and texture, setting different moods for various purposes. Often, this balance can be achieved through the strategic placement of windows and doors.
For this edition, participants were tasked with designing a home for a hypothetical couple, adhering to one primary rule: no artificial light within the home. The jury sought designs that demonstrated how natural light could shape architectural decisions. Participants could select any theoretical site for their Home of Shadows and propose a fully functional building, incorporating essential amenities such as a kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom, and a small courtyard.
An international jury panel with diverse expertise evaluated the submissions. The panel included Sarah Broadstock, an architect at London-based Studio Bark; Sandra Baggerman from the New York office of Trahan Architects, known for her work on cultural and public projects; Nikita Morell, a specialized copywriter for architects and founder of Architects WordShop; architectural designer and educator Blake T. Smith; and founders Patcharada Inplang and Thongchai Chansamak of Chiangmai, Thailand-based Sher Maker.
Buildner's other ongoing competitions include: the 10th edition of MICROHOME competition, in collaboration with Kingspan and Hapi Homes; the Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge aimed at finding innovative sculptures reflecting Saudi Arabia's heritage, modern achievements, and future ambitions; and the Howard Waterfall Retreat competition, which invites architects to propose designs for a multi-generational family retreat at the scenic and historically significant Howard Falls in Pennsylvania, USA. Each of these competitions aims to build the winning designs.
Projects:
1st Prize Winner + Buildner Student Award
Project title: Vessel Of Light
Authors: Yujie Weng and Jiangyiwen Zhang, from New Zealand NZAUC, New Zealand
Vessel of Light is a residence set into a slope beside Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. The structure is defined by a curved roof that mirrors the sun's path and multiple internal courtyards that introduce light into the subterranean volume. Skylights and apertures are calibrated to the daily cycle of light and the functional needs of each space. The interior sequence follows the movement of sunlight, creating changing atmospheres throughout the day. Plantings, textured walls, and shifting shadows enhance the spatial character. The architecture leverages topography and solar orientation to maintain natural illumination without the need for large external openings.
Second Prize Winner
Project title: Aperture
Authors: Qianzhi Shao, from China
Aperture is a circular residence designed around a central courtyard that governs light and spatial flow. Located on an open landscape, the structure integrates rotating door-walls that regulate both movement and illumination. These 360-degree doors define private zones when closed, and interconnect rooms through shadows when open. The design reflects the cyclical nature of light, with illumination shifting in sync with celestial and terrestrial rhythms. Spatial boundaries blur as rotating partitions reconfigure light and enclosure throughout the day. The project explores how architecture can express the rhythm of time through changing apertures, creating fluid transitions shaped by light and shadow.
Third Prize Winner
Project title: Łódź, Wschodnia 13
Authors: Anna Agnieszka Jaruga-Rozdolska, from Poland
The Home of Light explores the relationship between sunlight and spatial experience through a composition of contrasting volumes. The upper level is bathed in direct light, while the lower level, known as the Home of Shadows, remains recessed and introspective. The design is organized to capture the sun's movement, employing devices such as angled windows, thick walls, and voids to modulate brightness and cast shifting shadows. Light is treated as a narrative element—marking time, revealing surfaces, and guiding movement. The house stages a transition between illumination and obscurity, using architectural form to choreograph sensory and temporal perception.
Buildner Sustainability Prize Winner
Project title: Dappled Sun House
Authors: Emily Mei Ta and Adrian Kevin Wong, from the United States
Dappled Sun House is situated in the tropical landscape of Malaysia. The structure is oriented along the east-west axis to align with the sun's path, using filtered morning and evening light to define the character of each space. A layered roof system and open-air courtyards create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow, while facilitating natural ventilation. Materials such as timber, rammed earth, and local stone regulate temperature and humidity. Water features, vegetation, and adjustable wooden louvers help manage heat and moisture. The design integrates daily routines with environmental rhythms, minimizing the boundary between interior and exterior.
Highlighted Submissions
Project title: Illuminous Drifted Mindscape
Authors: Chun Liu, from the United States
This project explores how natural illumination can shape a home that nurtures mental clarity and emotional balance. Sculpted forms and soft materiality define a spatial journey through four key environments: the Lotus Court, a tranquil pool under an open sky encouraging reflection; the Night Bloom Garden, a stargazing courtyard evoking wonder and abstract thinking; the Idea Rise, a bright, sloped living space that invites collaboration and creativity; and the Sleep Nest, intimate zones tailored to differing circadian rhythms. The home's flowing structure and dynamic lightscapes foster introspection, imagination, and shared retreat.
Project title: Sculpting Shadow
Authors: Chuqi Huang and Duo Xu from the United States
This project treats shadow not as absence, but as a sculpted presence—an architectural element in its own right. Daylight filters through a continuous clerestory and perforated façades, diffusing light into patterned fragments that shift throughout the day. Inside, curved concrete partitions bend and redirect light, shaping shadow as a dynamic force that defines thresholds and enriches spatial transitions. From softly dappled courtyards to focused light in a music room, each space is tuned to balance intimacy and openness. Light becomes rhythm, shadow becomes form, and the home becomes a calm, luminous environment for reflection and flow.
Project title: The Light Box
Authors: Conell Cheng Brandner student from the University of Maryland, United States
The Light Box explores the architectural possibilities of 3D-printed construction through a spatial journey shaped by light. Drawing inspiration from cave formations, the design uses skylights and clerestory openings to gradually modulate daylight—from the bright, open living room to more secluded, softly lit spaces like the bedroom and dining nook. The circular floor plan enables continuous movement and ensures light flows dynamically throughout the day. Sculptural concrete walls, left raw and unadorned, define the home's monolithic character. Curtains replace doors to maintain visual continuity while preserving intimacy. The house becomes a calm, luminous retreat grounded in material honesty and technological innovation.
Project title: AfterImage
Authors: Kevin Gao and Jinal Devkamal Gandhi, from Australia
AfterImage is an analog house that explores light as a tool to measure time and preserve memory. Central to the design is a camera obscura, which inverts and projects the outside world onto an internal wall, creating ephemeral, time-based images. Light enters through carefully oriented apertures and lightwells, marking solar rhythms and seasonal changes. Materials are locally sourced and tactile, emphasizing raw textures and simple assembly. Sculptural voids and layered transparencies guide light through spaces dedicated to observation, reflection, and slowness. The result is a home that records the movement of time, light, and life as a living archive.
Project title: L'Atelier des Flots (The Workshop of the Waves)
Authors: Fung Shum, Lee Namkyu and Elisa Suzanne Lemonnier, from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, UK
L'Atelier des Flots is a poetic retreat for a fisherman and writer couple, designed to harmonize with the rhythms of sun and sea. Nestled into a coastal slope, the home is shaped by the movement of light across the day: a slit in the bedroom ceiling gently wakes the writer at dawn, while a sunlit courtyard offers warmth and reflection through sand-filtered illumination. Long kitchen windows frame the sea and provide consistent natural lighting for daily rituals. Built from rammed earth and local stone, the home grounds its inhabitants in the textures and time of place, becoming a sanctuary where architecture, landscape, and light converge.
