The City of London Corporation and British Land have recently announced an amazing opportunity to design housing solutions for the world’s largest population — bugs. For professionals, amateurs and kids, this ought to be quite a fun exercise. From the British Land website:
Bee part of the buzz – enter London’s unique architectural competition and be in with the chance of winning the highly desirable ‘Golden Beetle’ trophy.
The City of London Corporation and British Land invite you to take part in the inaugural Beyond the Hive competition. The competition, designed to encourage biodiversity in the City of London, asks entrants to design a five star hotel for our insect friends.
The designs will be whittled down to a shortlist of five hotels, which will be built in public gardens in the City.
A prestigious jury panel, along with members of the public will then have the final say and award the winner the ‘Golden Beetle’ trophy. Create those creature comforts and make your hotel the place where all bugs want to stay!
How the Beyond The Hive Competition works
Entrants are asked to sketch the ideal insect hotel, made out of recycled materials. Designs should be submitted with an entry form which can be found along with terms and conditions and further information in the design brief.
Designs may be hand or computer drawn. Electronic submissions should be compatible with Microsoft Office, Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD (.dwg or dxf) or Adobe pdf.
A shortlist of five entries will be chosen by The City of London Corporation. Each of the shortlisted teams will then build their design in one of five public gardens in the City.
The jury panel along with members of the public will then decide the winner.
There is no fee for entering Beyond the Hive.
For a full design brief, terms and conditions and entry form please click here.
Jury Panel
Ian Douglas, Beekeeping Correspondent at The Daily Telegraph
Paul Finch, Chairman of CABE, Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival, and editor emeritus of Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal
Sarah Henshall, Brownfield Officer, Bug Life
Adrian Penfold, Head of Planning and Environment, British Land
Graham Stirk, Director, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Peter Wynne Rees, The City Planning Officer, Corporation of LondonDeadlines
7th May – closing date for design entries
14th May – shortlist announced
19th June – construction of shortlisted hotels to be completed
27th June – end of judging period and public vote
1st July – awards ceremonyContact information
Please contact City Gardens with any enquiries
Email: parks.gardens@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7374 4127Media enquiries:
Victoria Wallin – 020 7269 9360
Sarah Keltie – 020 7269 9382
