Future leaders build resilience in 72-hour national design-athon – BRANZ

Some of New Zealand’s brightest students have competed in a 72-hour ‘design-athon’ event to create resilient housing that can withstand multiple disasters.

The BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand) event called ArchEngBuild featured 40 final-year students from across the country in architecture, engineering, construction management, landscape architecture, and sustainable engineering.

The students met for the first time at the University of Auckland and were split into ten teams to compete for the $12,000 cash prize.

This year’s brief was to design a resilient, sustainable and affordable community building concept that safeguards people from hazards like flooding, earthquakes, fire and high winds. It also needed to be adaptable to different family needs and quickly reinstated if disaster struck.

The hypothetical site for the development was at the bottom of the Auckland Domain, an area hit hard by the Auckland Anniversary flooding in 2023.

Flood-resilience was a strong feature of the winning team’s design which included water retention ponds and timber buildings on stilts. However, it was the focus on community that stood out for the judges.

The winners developed a housing concept called Rauhītia, which means to gather, shelter and care for collectively.

The largely modular design featured a mixture of townhouses, apartments and standalone homes as well as a community facility and childcare centre to encourage multigenerational living and togetherness.

The winning students are:

Enoch Shi, University of Auckland architecture student

Beatrice Hong, Otago Polytechnic, construction management

Bella Mercardo – Victoria University of Wellington, sustainable engineering

Shivam Bansal University of Auckland, structural engineering

The winners were announced by BRANZ Board Chair Nigel Smith at a prizegiving event at the University of Auckland.

“This event wasn’t just about meeting a brief-it was about reimagining the future of resilience in our built environment.

“The competition challenged students to work collaboratively to push the boundaries of what’s possible in designing buildings that don’t just withstand disaster, but adapt and thrive in the face of New Zealand’s unique environmental challenges.

“This focus is critical-not for some distant future, but for projects that urgently demand fresh thinking today,” said Nigel Smith.

Architecture student Enoch Shi contributed the winning result to strong teamwork and a clear focus on community at the core of their concept.

“When we started the project, we asked ourselves – what does resilience mean to us? It can mean different things, but for us it really meant creating communities that protect and serve each other. Research shows the communities that are more bonded together are much more prepared in the face of disaster,” Enoch said.

The judges were impressed by the strong interdisciplinary collaboration under intense time-pressure pressure.

“The main theme this year was resilience. It was about building for hazards, but the winning team understood that it is about community at its heart. Their project provided a great base for a diverse population and a healthy community a mixture of housing technologies like medium density and townhouses,” said Ferdinand Oswald, Senior Lecturer of Architectural Technology, University of Auckland.

Overall, the judges were impressed with all of the students’ optimism and creativity in solving some of today’s biggest challenges – including resilience, sustainability and affordability in our buildings.

These are key focus areas for BRANZ through its independent research and testing to support better buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“These students are going to change the building industry,” said BRANZ Chief Executive Claire Falck.

“They are hitting the real world with the right attitude and focus on collaboration and innovation to overcome the significant challenges facing our industry and communities.”

BRANZ is proud to fund ArchEngBuild, through the Building Research Levy, along with industry sponsorship from:

Concrete New Zealand,

Metals New Zealand,

the Timber Design Society,

Southbase,

And, new sponsors this year: The Sustainable Steel Council

Ferdinand Oswald – Senior Lecturer of Architectural Technology at The University of Auckland

Craig Hopkins – CEO of Generation Homes

Ana Petrovic – Senior Structural Engineer at AECOM

Anne Carrington – Senior Associate with Warren & Mahoney Architects, and

Andrew Norriss – Landscape Architect Director – HoneStudio

BRANZ is committed to a future where all New Zealanders can live in safe, healthy and sustainable homes. Find out more: branz.co.nz