Dubai: Two students from a South African university won the first prize in an international architecture design contest in which participants designed a cultural village along Al Jaddaf Creek in Dubai.
The ceremony to honour the winners of the 14th Saint-Gobain Multi-Comfort House Students Contest was held on Monday.
The first prize was awarded to Vahin Parmananda and Mthokozisi Sibisi from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Southern Africa. They received €1500 (Dh6,570) and an iPad each.
The second prize was bagged by Veronika Supruniuk from Brest State Technical University, Belarus, while the third prize went to the students from Germany, Tobias Bretz and Dill Khan from Hochschule Darmstadt University. During this edition two special awards were also given, which went to Alejandra González and Paulino Poveda from Spain and Santiago Rodríguez and Joanna Wnuczek from Poland.
The contest is dedicated to architecture and engineering students from universities around the world. Its objective is to develop a project based on the principles of the multi-comfort concept — an optimum indoor environment ensuring the right level of fresh air, thermal, visual and acoustic comfort provided in a sustainable and energy efficient manner.
The competition held in Dubai saw participation of 50 students from 28 countries, who presented their unique designs of a dynamic and vibrant Cultural Village in Dubai.
The task given to the students was to design a multi-purpose development including residential, commercial and retail buildings, situated along the shoreline of Al Jaddaf Creek, which was evaluated by an international jury. Developed in collaboration with the Planning Department of Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Properties Group, the task involved creating a vision for a transcultural vibrant community development located in the perimeter of a Cultural Village.
The top three winners were honoured by Dawood Abdul Rahman Al Hajiri, director general of Dubai Municipality and Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of the Saint-Gobain group.
