Housing Workshop & Competition

Following “Reinvent the Shophouse” (2017), ULS recently completed its second architecture competition, the first aimed at students and also containing a significant educational component. Titled “Housing – Designing Accessible Solutions for the New Phnom Penh”, this five-week architecture workshop and competition on the topic of accessible housing in high-density areas focused on Phnom Penh. Geared towards young Cambodian architects, urban planners, and designers, the program aimed to increase students’ critical understanding of the housing challenges faced by urban spaces and enable them to find strategic solutions for those by following a structured design process.

Between September and October 2019, 22 students from Cambodian universities joined this extensive hands-on learning experience featuring face-to-face lectures, international speakers, open conferences and exhibitions. The entire program was led by Spanish architects Cesar Cabanas and Gustavo Contepomi, both based in Beijing. Practical sessions and conferences (in person or through video conferencing) were offered by renowned architects and urban planning professionals such as David Sim, from Gehl (Denmark); David Cole, from Building Trust International and Cole Architects (UK); Martin Aerne, from Aerne Architect & Associates (Switzerland) and Professor Stefan Tkac from the American University of Phnom Penh (Czech Republic).

The program concluded with a competition with the students presenting their final projects in front of a multi-disciplinary jury, formed by Leang Kean (developer and ULS Managing Director), architects Hun Chansan and David Cole, entrepreneur Zoë Ng and civil engineer Seng Sona.

The top 3 teams received a total of $3,500 in prizes and ULS is reviewing all the projects in detail for feasibility. ULS looks to learn from this year’s experience and hopes to repeat similar workshops annually, expanding the number of participants and content.
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