Climate Responsive Retrofit: University Design Challenge 2023

Register by 22nd January to take part!

Retrofit is essential; It’s not easy, it’s far more challenging than new-build, and it takes a team of knowledgeable caring professionals to accomplish schemes that work. We need our future professionals to understand the complexity and embrace the constraints and challenges.

Timber Development UK (TDUK) are delighted to partner with Built Environment – Smarter Transformation BE-ST, New Model Institute for Technology & Engineering (NMITE), Edinburgh Napier University (ENU), Passivhaus Trust (PHT) & the Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) to launch the 2023 university challenge which will see interdisciplinary teams of individual students and 2022 graduates from UK Universities address the urgent need to reuse existing buildings by repurposing and retrofitting.

Timber Development UK and our partners never shied from a challenge and so this year we are pleased to announce that #TDChallenge23 will tackle the improvement and re-use of existing buildings.

The challenge

LAUNCH

Check out our 15-minute launch video, taken as part of BE-ST Fest, which introduces the partners, sets out the competition program details and how to join in.

PARTICIPATION

We invite individual students and 2022 graduates on Built Environment courses from UK Universities to register their interest join in an interdisciplinary UK wide team competition which will run for 5 months.

TEAMS

We invite individuals to register, and we will support you as we enable teams of 4 to 8 members to form to include students and 2022 graduates from UK universities who are studying to become:

architects, interior architects,
architectural technologists,
engineers (civil, structural, M&E)
landscape architects,
quantity surveyors,
project managers,
or other built environment professionals.

THE CHALLENGE

Your team challenge – design, engineer and cost a retrofit scheme for an existing timber frame building.

WEBINARS

On Tuesdays in November a team of experts at the forefront of retrofit will speak about why, how, when and with what climate responsive retrofit can be achieved.

Experts will be on hand to advise and guide you throughout the challenge. You can view the recorded webinars here.

SOFTWARE

Due to the generosity of our software partners, each team of participants will be given access to industry software Trimble SketchUp, designPH and PHPP, AECB Carbon Calculator – along with dedicated workshops on their effective use.

CASH PRIZES & LIVE FINAL

The competition will culminate is a live final with individual (team) cash prizes.

QUESTIONS

Please contact Tabitha Binding head of education & engagement at TDUK.