3rd Eco-Quartier Student Competition in Sustainable Design Winners Announced!

On Friday 11 May 2018, four students from the Lebanese University were chosen as winners of the 3rd Eco- Quartier Student Competition in Sustainable Design, in an event that took place at the Municipality of Rasmaska in North Lebanon which was selected as the site for this year’s competition. Eco-Quartier is a competition organized by Build It Green – Lebanon with the support of the Lebanon Green Building Council and the Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut this time round, targeting senior year architecture and urban planning students from all the universities in Lebanon. Its aim is to stimulate innovative design proposals showing how architecture, urban design & planning and landscape architecture can make a contribution to maintaining and improving our living environment, thereby allowing Lebanon to achieve distinction in the area of sustainable development. The competition invites designers to deliver a combination of creative, innovative, and practically sustainable designs together with implementation strategies towards building Eco‐neighbourhoods and Green Communities within Lebanon. Architecture, Landscaping, Engineering, and Urban Planning Students from the different universities of Lebanon were all invited to participate and design their own innovative Green Neighbourhood in the Rasmaska region. The competition was launched in March 2017 during the 8th Build It Green – Lebanon Conference, and closed on 8 February 2018 after submissions from a number of different universities were received. The jury evaluation took place at the Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut and was made by a committee consisting of urban planners, architects and environmental specialists. This resulted in the selection of a winning group of students from the Lebanese University, Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, Branch III, consisting of the following:     Acyle TLAYJEH Dima MERHEBI Houda ELMAWAS Omar HASSAN
The selected project stood out from the others due to its lower lighter visual impact while respecting the existing site, thinking about a good bioclimatic design, linking some its features to our local cultural heritage, optimizing green areas and enhancing facilities for people’s well-being, with a nice integration of mixed-usage spaces. Prizes included the winning certificate, a monetary prize of USD 500, registration fees for the LEED GA exam offered by eEcoSolutions, Eco-building & LEED GA training offered by EcoConsulting (e-EcoSolutions and EcoConsulting being the organizers of the Build It Green – Lebanon Conference), internships in different sustainability oriented firms, and the possibility of taking part in the project being implemented by the municipality of Rasmaska. The ceremony featured a welcome by Mr. Gilbert Tegho, CEO of e-EcoSolutions and Mr. Simon Nakhoul, Mayor of Rasmaska. The general competition presentation was made by Ms. Maya Karkour, Co-founder of EcoConsulting who also handed out the prizes. A group photo and a cocktail reception followed the ceremony.