Design interventions into pre-existing sites play a critical role in global healthcare. The 2023 Epidemic Urbanism Initiative Design Competition will focus on adaptive reuse, inviting submissions that consider how pre-existing vacant, underused, or currently used sites, structures, and spaces can be transformed into healthcare settings with thoughtful, sustainable design interventions. Many communities rely on the adaptive reuse of spaces designated or constructed for other purposes to fulfill community healthcare needs, whether it is a former school repurposed as a vaccination clinic in western Canada, a house converted into a women’s health center in Kenya, or a field transformed into a temporary hospital comprised of tents and outbuildings in Bolivia. Global health crises, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic, create an urgent need to transform existing buildings and sites for both ongoing community care and emergency treatment. This adaptive reuse is the theme of the 2023 EUI Design Competition.
Submissions should be centerd on developing holistic design responses to community health inclusive of physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects, offer equity and accessibility, and pay attention to how locally sourced and sustainable materials can be used to adapt pre-existing sites into healthcare facilities.
Submission Categories
- Community Health Center
- Emergency Treatment Center
Submission Format and Details
- Portfolio (as a single PDF file): Four vertical A3 (portrait not landscape) pages. The four sheets can be presented individually or can be combined to form an A1 poster. Please label this file TEAM NAME_PORTFOLIO
- Written statement (as a Word document or PDF): 300-500 words explaining the contextual and conceptual factors of the project and how the design responds to the questions above. Please label this file TEAM NAME_WRITTEN STATEMENT
- Cover page (as a Word document or PDF): include the competition category (Community Healthcare Centre or Emergency Treatment Centre); team name; contact information for the team; the names, roles, and affiliations of all team members; the name and location of the re-used site/building. Please label this file TEAM NAME_COVER PAGE
- Email your projects to epidemicurbanism@gmail.com
- Shortlisted teams will be asked to submit a video of five minutes in length to explain their proposed project by July 15, 2023. Further instructions will be provided.
- All teams who have submitted entries will be asked to share feedback on the videos submitted by the shortlisted teams
- Videos, jury discussions, and feedback videos will be posted to the Epidemic Urbanism Initiative website and YouTube channel to be used as educational tools
Significant Dates
- Deadline for inquiries: April 30, 2023
- Deadline for submissions: May 30, 2023
- Convening of review committees: June 2023
- Deadline for submission of videos by shortlisted teams: July 15, 2023
- Announcement of shortlisted projects: August 1, 2023
- Jury meetings: September 2023
- Announcement of awards: September 30, 2023
Awards
- First prize for each category: $2000
- Two finalists for each category: $500
- All participants attending the final review meetings will receive an EUI certificate
- Shortlisted projects will be announced on the EUI website, the EDRA newsletter, and major architectural websites
More information can be found on EUI’s website.