The international architecture competition drew 47 entries from 21 countries, including Taiwan, Australia and the United States. The competition was organized by web-based architecture marketplace Katus.eu in cooperation with timber house manufacturers Nurban AS and Kodumaja Kinnisvaraarenduse OÜ. The competition was announced last autumn with the goal of finding modern, smart and attractive solutions for two development sites: Svertingstad Gård near Stavanger, Norway and Ülenurme near Tartu, Estonia. The jury selected three winning entries for both the Norwegian as well as the Estonian sites.

The main organiser of the competition, Tiit Sild, says his web-based architecture marketplace katus.eu is focused on the idea of making our living environment better. "I believe that there is no reason why a prefabricated house shouldn't also be a prime example of great contemporary architecture," Sild said. "The architecture competition was a good opportunity to inspire architects to create modern designs for prefabricated houses out of the most popular construction material in Estonia – wood. Estonia has become Europe's largest timber house exporter, which gives us the prime opportunity to become a ringleader in the modern architecture and design of wooden houses."

Margus Pauts, member of the jury and Managing Director of timber element and modular house manufacturer Nurban AS says that he's very satisfied with the results of the competition.

"We're looking for the kinds of houses that people would really want to live in. And I'm happy to report the competition was a success because we found just such designs."

Another jury member, Lembit Lump of Kodumaja AS, added that there were many competition entries that he found architecturally intriguing, which accounted for the manufacturing capabilities of the Estonian timber industry.

Winning entries for the Svertingstad Gård area near Stavanger, Norway

1st place: 5000€, design NIHE – ARS Projekt OÜ (Rasmus Tamme, Reio Raudsepp, Rene Safin, Evelin Eelmaa, Joonas Saan, Kristjan Männigo, Kristina Oolu, Karolin Kõll) – Estonia

2nd place: 3500€, design WOODY – 3+1 Architects (Gert Guriev, Markus Kaasik, Riin Kersalu, Kerstin Kivila, Taavi Lõoke, Mihkel Meriste, Andres Ojari, Ilmar Valdur) – Estonia

3rd place: 2000€, design RHC1PA – Anna Zukowska Architecture Studio, Maciej Žukowski – Poland

Winning entries for the Ülenurme area in Estonia

1st place: 4000€, key word PRIVATE CIRCLE, Paleka Archstudija (Rolandas Palekas, Dalia Zakaite, Mantas Skirmantas) – Lithuania

2nd place: 2500€, key word SEE, Karisma Arhitektid (Risto Parve, Kai Süda, Margit Valma) – Estonia

3rd place: 1500€: key word TRFGHM, Gianluca Pelizzi Pelizziarchitettura – Italy

VELUX special mention for best use of roof lighting: 700€, key word BOK-BOK, Veljko Armano Linta, Ana Armano Linta, David Azinoviź, Ivana Ćavar – Croatia

Jury special mention: key word POSTBARN, raumspielkunst Architectural Design & Concepts, Florian Lachenmann – Germany

The prize money will be paid out to winner by the Estonian Cultural Endowment and they will be contacted by the competition organizers within 15 days. The competition works will be on display in Tallinn at the Solaris Centre until April 5th.

The architecture competition was supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, VELUX, Q-Haus, Fenestra, the Tartu City Government, the Enterprise Department of the Tallinn City Government, entertainment centre Solaris, the Estonian Centre of Architecture, the Norwegian-Estonian Chamber of Commerce, Puukeskus, the Estonian Woodhouse Association and the Enterprise Estonia Regional Development Fund.

A web gallery of competition works can be seen at Katus.eu website: http://katus.eu/competition.

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