San Francisco Affordable Housing Challenge - Architecture competition

The San Francisco Affordable Housing Challenge is the latest in the Bee Breeders Affordable Housing Competition series. In partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS, this affordable housing challenge is tasking participants with conceiving a solution to the city by the bay’s housing crisis. San Francisco is one of the trendiest and most-popular cities in the United States, which also happens to make it one of the most expensive cities in the world... San Francisco has seen an ever-increasing gap between the supply and demand for housing. San Francisco is now officially the most expensive city in the country. Guidelines:

Design a concept for affordable housing within San Francisco, which can be easily rolled out to increase capacity of housing stock, and is minimal in its use of land and materials.
No minimum size or amount of the residential units per block is defined. The proposals should be adaptable enough to adopt in different sizes with different inhabitant capacity requirements.
Designs for the San Francisco Affordable Housing Challenge should be flexible to different locations across the city.

There are no specific requirements for this competition, and so participants are encouraged to be as creative as possible with their proposed solutions. Project designs should be flexible, enabling them to accommodate different inhabitants and their varying requirements. e.g. families, single professionals, couples, etc.

RECOMMENDED SUBMISSION CONTENT

• A cityscape to illustrate how the proposal fits in with the quality, value, and significance of the historical and modern urban structure of San Francisco.
• Concept designs which highlight that all aspects of the design are of the highest quality and in keeping with the design brief and the proposed site.
• The main points of proposed plans and sections, multiple internal and external perspectives demonstrating the spatial quality of the building as well as operational needs and accessibility requirements.
• Demonstration of project construction, materiality, functions, management and maintenance; approach to environment, energy and sustainability, indoor environment and logistics.

Submission requirements:

• Participants are required to upload 4 x A2 landscape-orientated presentation boards (must not exceed 5MB per jpg) with sketches, renderings, plans, sections, elevations, diagrams, and/or other presentation tools to explain their proposal.
• No video files are accepted.
• All information provided in writing must be in English.
• All submissions must be uploaded via the beebreeders.com upload panel.

The jury will also be looking for designs that challenge typical ideas of housing, design, and the community as a whole, while at the same time incorporating a practical element that could see these projects offering a real, valid solution to the city’s affordable housing crisis.

The 3 winning proposals and 6 honourable mentions will be selected.

Announcement of the winners is scheduled for 23 June, 2020.

Entry fees:

• Early Bird Registration (5 November - 20 December) - US $90 for Architects / Enthusiasts / Companies, instead for Students - US $70
• Advance Registration (21 December - 18 February) - US $120 for Architects / Enthusiasts / Companies, instead for Students - US $100
• Last Minute Registration (19 February - 21 Aprile) - US $140 for Architects / Enthusiasts / Companies, instead for Students - US $120
There is a special student rates for group registration (discount applies for 3+ registrations from one university/school).

Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum).

Selected winning designs will not only receive prize money, but will also be featured in the next ARCHHIVE BOOKS publication on the topic of affordable housing, scheduled for publication in Winter 2020.

Organizer: Bee Breeders

Published by: InfoDesigners