Innovative housing design wins top prize in 48-hour challenge

The champions of this year’s ArchEngBuild challenge have been revealed, with University of Auckland structural engineering student Douglas Sartori Gonçalves playing a pivotal role for the winning team.

The competition, run by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) and Concrete New Zealand, brought together 30 of Aotearoa New Zealand’s top architecture, engineering and construction students to design an affordable and sustainable housing development in the heart of Ōtautahi Christchurch in only 48 hours.

Sartori was part of the winning team alongside Ella Knapton, architecture student at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and Francis Orendain, construction management at Western Institute of Technology. The group was awarded a $10,000 prize, which was evenly split among the members.

The brief was to design a mixed-use urban development that provides housing, retail, workspaces and a community area. It needed to adapt to the occupants' life changes over time while maintaining strong community connections and remain affordable for most New Zealanders. It also had to take sustainability into consideration and ensure safety and minimal damage during severe earthquakes.

“Our design was quite innovative and forward thinking. We designed units to be able to be expanded and have an adaptable layout while maintaining structural integrity during a seismic event, and in such a way that could be easily fixed in case of a major earthquake event,” says Sartori.

“The whole life cycle of the building's CO2 emissions was taken into consideration, hence we defined our structure to be mainly made of timber. Architecturally, the design solved major issues with lighting, ventilation and heating just by simply positioning the buildings in an effective way.

“In the end our design ticked all the boxes; beautiful, sustainable, seismically resilient, and adaptable, while being low cost and serving the community well.”

Sartori says the team’s hard work, dedication and thirst for winning pushed them to deliver a great concept.

“Sleepless nights and early starts paid off. We took no breaks, we used mealtimes to discuss our project and worked late into the night. I’m grateful that our efforts have been rewarded.”

Sartori was one of six students from the University of Auckland in the competition. He was joined by Tep Khemarin Chan (architecture), and fellow engineering students Alexander Hanoush, Roger Yang, Sam Xu, and Brett Tindle.

The winning team was announced by Minister for Building and Construction Hon Chris Penk at a prizegiving at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū on 4 July.

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

“The students we saw today are going to change the building industry. Our industry can be tough, but these students are hitting the real world with the right attitude and focus on collaboration and communication,” said the judges.

Sartori is in the final year of his Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and aims to become a chartered structural engineer. He hopes to work on residential developments, including luxury homes, terrace houses, and apartments.

“In the future, I aspire to be a leader in the field of structural engineering, not just focusing on technical aspects, but also being actively involved in the broader scope of the field. I also want to have my own practice where I am engaged in projects that are both architecturally beautiful and challenging.”