2025 Design Brief
Connecting to tomorrow
The LSAA was founded at the University of NSW in 1981. Recent Conferences have been hosted at several Universities in Melbourne (Monash and Swinburne) and UTS in Sydney.
Swinburne University of Technology, The University of Melbourne, and RMIT University are combining forces to present the Student Design Award at the 2025!
We are honoured to be supported by our Student Award sponsors: Tensys Engineers and MakMax
Key Dates:
Registrations close April 11, 2025
Submissions due by May 31, 2025 - Please see submission details below.
This award is open to small teams of students currently enrolled in a tertiary institution to develop and present a conceptual design that embodies the principles of lightweight structures, emphasizes sustainability, and the need to address social and climate change issues. This year's event raises awareness of the “epidemic of boringness” to quote Thomas Heatherwick. How might we create more liveable cities and create buildings that we are inspired to look after?
Site, location, and context
Site: Choose one of the public housing towers in Melbourne.
A structural skeleton located in Melbourne.
A standard reinforced concrete structural grid, 8.4m x 8.4m.
The building was an old office tower, needing to be repurposed for housing.
The facade was run down, no longer fit for purpose, and has been removed.
A new facade that encloses the structure is needed to create interesting liveable spaces.
Project Area
You can download a Rhino file of the standardised concrete structural skeleton here.
You will need to orient your building for your chosen destination.
Your facade design needs to cover 3 levels and on one corner of the structure.
Brief
This design competition aims to inspire students to challenge the traditional facade material system of glass, aluminium, and steel. Participants are encouraged to showcase innovative design ideas and interventions that provide structural gymnastics, adaptive environmental control, and something interesting! The designs should offer natural light, shelter from the local weather, spatial opportunities to promote a high standard of living within the existing structural skeleton of a typical reinforced concrete structure. The facade must create an interesting and engaging experience for the pedestrians along the street.
The facade(s) must fulfil all the below requirements:
- Interesting! Create a visually compelling design that renders the building interesting! With innovative geometry and strong spatial engagement (internal and external).
- Adaptive! Thermally and environmental performing facade
- Structurally optimised and lightweight. Possible lightweight Structures include 1) Form-active, 2) Vector-active, 3) Section-active, 4) Surface-active, 5) Height-active, 6) Hybrid, and 7) Geometry Structure form. Please refer to Heino Engel’s book Structure System.
- 1:20 physical model (3D printed or similar)
- 1 corner of facade across 20.4lm (along perimeter) x 9.0m totalling ~184m2
Competition Design Criteria
- Interestingness – Create a visually compelling design that renders the building interesting! With innovative geometry and strong spatial engagement. (For inspiration click here)
- Environmental Performance – Explore thermally active and passive systems, thermal insulation, daylighting, adaptive shading, ventilation, and energy generation – all in consideration of facade orientation and the site’s location.
- Material Innovation & Structural Performance – Minimise embodied carbon and explore recyclable or bio-based materials, incorporating passive environmental strategies to reduce operational energy use, while ensuring appropriate structural capacity and deflection limits.
- Feasibility & Constructability – Consider fire and water stability of the materials, construction methods suitable for robotic, prefabrication, or on-site assembly, ensuring ease of manufacturing and installation.
Design Quality and Response to the brief: Creativity and innovation in interpreting the brief, a high degree of spatial quality and resolution, appropriate and culturally relevant architectural language, legibility and ease of use, interaction between internal and external environment, and flexibility and adaptability to suit the brief. Overall response to the design brief.
Skin systems: Relationship of aesthetic and performance aspects of the pavilion(s) envelope; this includes sources of inspiration and climate considerations.
Structural resolution and relevance to the field of lightweight structures: Creativity and innovation in interpreting the concept of lightweight structures, including details on any unusual design loadings, geometry, and methods of arriving at the final solution.
Environmental awareness: Successful translation of environmental control and circularity principles into architectural language; this includes longevity and reusability of the materials used.
Tectonics and assembly process: Detailed resolution and refinement; integration of materials and components based on their physical properties; appropriate fabrication techniques and material systems adopted.
Curation and representation of the design intent: Quality, clarity, and coherency of design thinking and design proposal.
Application
Eligibility: The competition is open to any undergraduate or graduate student grouped in teams of a minimum of two and a maximum of four members. Students should study in art, architecture, landscape architecture, design, engineering, and/or other creatively focused programs. Collaborative and interdisciplinary designs are highly desired. There are no entry fees.
Each team will have a corresponding member who will handle the registration, submission and correspondence with the LSAA committee.
Students are required to register with their university details.
Upon successful registration, each participating group will be contacted directly by email. You will be notified by email of the outcome approximately 2 weeks after the published closing date.
Registered teams will submit their projects no later than May 31, 2025, 23:59 AEST: Each registered team will send their project via https://wetransfer.com to
The best three shortlisted projects will be exhibited at Archi Build Expo in the Future Build Innovation Neighbourhood held at the Melbourne Convention Centre in Australia! Posters must be pinned up, and physical prototypes on display on June 10, 2025, 9AM-1PM. The three groups will present their projects during the Archi Build Expo (12-14 June, 2025) - see PDF. The prizes will be awarded at the Expo.
Awards:
1st place 50%
2nd place 30%
3rd place 20%
Submission requirements: Students are required to submit their work electronically as a single PDF file, comprising 2xA1 panels, portrait orientation, including:
Site plan 1:500 showing the context of the building, the façade orientation, and relation to the street to show how the new structure activates the place; plans and sections of the facade(s) 1:50; details (1:10); 3D views and renders, design statement and design thinking process, photos of physical prototype (1:20).
We will only accept PDF files. The single file PDF will comprise two A1, colour; must be named “university name_group name”: for example, “RMIT_Team683.”
Presentation format: the three shortlisted teams will present their projects in Pecha Kucha 20x20 format (20 slides x 20 seconds each) on stage at the Archi Buiild Expo, Mebourne Convention Centre June 12-14, physical protoype to be displayed at the Archi Build Expo (for international entries we will require the STL and 3DM of the prototype model).
Jury Panel
To be announced
For further background information: The first, inaugral Student Awards were held in 2024. There is a page on the LSAA website covering all our past Awards on a separate sub-menu. The winning entries and background for the inaugral award might be helpful - see https://lsaa.org/lsaa-design-awards/2024-design-awards/2024-lsaa-student-awards
Feedback from 2024 Students: Extremely rewarding to tackle the project, great exprience in teamwork and creativity. Advice would be to start early (not long to submission date), engage the whole group. Don't forget other obligations/subjects. You may download the Rhino File below