Spirala Design Competition

BUILDNER Design Competition | Completed 2020

SPIRALA was created as a submission to the Spirala Community Home competition hosted by Bee Breeders/BUILDNER.

A community of individuals passionate about the environment established an eco-commune in Eastern Portugal and were looking for a design for their main community hall, a space for sharing meals, hosting events, and connecting to each other after long days working the land and teaching visitors about how to live more sustainable lifestyles.

Our design was informed by vernacular Portuguese architecture and the symbolism of the spiral, which was heavily influential on the Spirala community. We provided a building design that embraced the history of the region while utilizing natural materials with some modern design flair. Spirala was designed to maintain comfort without modern HVAC systems as well as to utilize natural light and solar charged LEDs for all lighting requirements. The material for the rammed earth or mudbrick walls would have been able to be gathered on-site.