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Stage 1 - Entries
An inspirational and demanding brief attracted 144 entries of remarkable creative diversity, many exploiting the inherent potential of mathematical and botanical symbolism in their approach.
Most of the 144 solutions chose to grow from the north western courtyard wall backed by the garages, often with a partial wing extending along the adjacent wall, broadly forming an L shaped, sometimes curved, enclosure to the main space. Some chose to exploit a botanical metaphor with their buildings dramatically landing on the site as if giant windblown seeds. The fibonnacci series and other mathematical themes featured in many entries, but not all appeared to be necessarily readily discernible to visitors. Many were compact in order to maintain the maximum external space, by utilising the roof as part of the plant production area. Several relied on a, probably more costly, multi level approach, including substantial basements. The sustainability and energy generation issues were generally taken seriously, but some solutions relied on huge arrays of PV of which the client already owns several and therefore knows how expensive they currently are to acquire.
