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Lancaster School of Architecture Competition 2023
Mobile Coastal Laboratory for Environmental Research
Competition brief
Lancaster School of Architecture invites submissions to its ideas competition to design a mobile coastal laboratory for environmental research. The competition is open to all undergraduate and Part I students of architecture globally.
Competition opens
21st July 2023
Deadline
21st September 2023. The competition is now closed
First prize
New 14 inch MacBook Pro
Second prize
12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 256GB
The Lancashire coast is a unique landscape characterised by layers of special habitats that support innumerable indigenous species and masses of migratory seasonal visitors. Its value has recently been recognised in the announcement of the new Eden Centre North to be built in Morecambe with a specific focus on UK costal ecologies.
The coast is subject to all sorts of legislative protection, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation, National Nature Reserves (NNR), Regionally Important Geological/geomorphological Sites (RIGS) and Sites of Local Biological Interest (SLBI).
Such an array of protections testifies to the importance and sensitivity of the landscapes.
Our focus
The Lancaster School of Architecture currently focuses on three major concerns – future practice, digital craft and the climate emergency – amongst a constellation of other interests. Situated in the North-West of England and surrounded by unique landscapes, our studio design projects and our research use these special habitats to further the practice of architecture in rapidly changing professional and ecological circumstances.
Morecambe Bay, the Lake District and the Trough of Bowland are all locations within which we work. These landscapes, habitats and concerns characterise the emergent identity of the School.
Tab Content: Proposals
Competition entries should address the concerns of the School, with special attention to sustainability, reuse, design for disassembly, zero carbon, self-propulsion and recycling. The laboratory might be designed to move across all of the coastal habitats or be specific to mudflats, estuaries, and dunes. It should provide enough space for 6 researchers to work, with storage. How the mobile laboratories connect with wider networks (educational institutions, the Eden Project, and commercial labs may also be considered. As an ideas competition, the limits are in your hands … we seek imaginative and innovative proposals, illustrated with flair and ambition.
Tab Content: Terms and conditions
- The judged competition is open to undergraduate, and Part I students of architecture globally.
- Postgraduate students, Part II students or fully qualified architects are not able to participate.
- Anyone directly involved with the organisation or delivery of the competition is not permitted to enter.
- There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
- Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
Tab Content: Rules and how to enter
- Entrants are asked to fill in the online competition entry form to complement their submissions.
- Entrants need to submit an email with their 1xA1 poster attachment (no larger in size than 20mb) in PDF format, to lancsarc@lancaster.ac.uk before the deadline. The poster should not display your name (so the judges do not see it) and instead have a pseudonym on the bottom right corner, font size 20pt.
- Please include in your email to lancsarc@lancaster.ac.uk any additional documents specified in the competition entry form.
- The competition runs between the 21.07.23 and the 21.09.23 at 23:59 GMT. Outside of these dates and time, no further entries into the competition will be accepted.
- The prizes are as follows: a first prize of a new 14-inch MacBook Pro. The second prize is a 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 256GB. All prizes are as stated, and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. Lancaster University is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this judged competition. This competition is not in affiliation with Apple or any other third-party companies.
Tab Content: Judging criteria
The winners of the competition will be selected by the judging panel based on the following criteria:
- Does the submission answer the brief successfully?
- Is the submission innovative?
- Is the submitted poster visually impactful?
Tab Content: Winning entries
- The winners will be notified on 20th October and the prize will be sent to them, using the delivery address submitted in the survey. All entries will be sent a certificate of entry.
- Entries will be promoted as images via social media and on the Lancaster University website.
- Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent. Any personal data collected will not be cross-referenced with any other University-held data.
- Personal data will be retained for 6 weeks after the winners have been notified, after which point it will be securely deleted.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with any other organisations or partners. You are providing your information to Lancaster University and not to any other party. For further information about how Lancaster University handles and secures personal data please refer to our suite of Privacy Notices which also include details concerning the rights you have over your personal data and the contact details of the University’s Data Protection Officer.
Download the Architecture competition brief
Fill in the competition entry form, and send your PDF entry to lancsarc@lancaster.ac.uk. Please include in your email any additional documents specified in the competition entry form.
Photograph: Serena Pollastri. Other images on this page by Serena Pollastri and Richard Brook