Buildner is proud to share the results of the fourth edition of the Hospice – Home for the Terminally Ill competition, a global call for ideas that continues to reimagine spaces of care and dignity for individuals facing the end of life.
This year’s edition invited architects and designers to look beyond clinical needs and propose environments that offer emotional warmth, social connection, and a profound sense of place. Entrants were encouraged to explore how architecture can support not only physical comfort but also psychological and spiritual well-being.
Participants were asked to design a small-scale hospice accommodating up to fifteen residents and five staff members, including spaces such as a library-equipped common area, gathering room, chapel, kitchen, dining room, nurse’s station, and therapy space for psychological care. Submissions were to be set in a location of the participant’s choosing within their own country, encouraging culturally responsive and contextually grounded solutions. The competition once again highlights the role of architecture in shaping compassionate, human-centered care environments.
An esteemed international jury, including Alan Dunlop, Paul Monaghan, Dr. Nirit Pilosof, and others with deep expertise in healthcare and human-centered design, reviewed submissions from around the world. First prize was awarded to Marinus A. Wouters and Britt P. H. Segeren from the Netherlands for Our Light—a modular timber scheme inspired by rituals of remembrance and designed to dissolve the boundary between public and private experience. Second prize went to Xiaojin Huang, Gerald Yi En Low, and Melissa Chong from Australia for Held Between Eucalyptus and Walls, a nature-immersed concept built from rammed earth and timber. Third prize was awarded to Pierre-Charles Gauthier from Canada for Memory House, a gentle, circular hospice rooted in the emotional rhythms of memory and seasonal change.
The Student Award went to Nikoleta Mitríková from Slovakia for Vital Park, a calming forest retreat prioritizing spatial softness and organic integration. The Sustainability Award was given to Lampis Farantos and Konstantinos Vlahavas from Greece. Buildner and its jury extend sincere thanks to all participants for their thoughtful, moving proposals.
1st Place
Our Light
Marinus A Wouters, Britt P H Segeren
Netherlands
“What made this so interesting was the complete freedom to think beyond strict rules and conceptual constraints. The liberty that such a competition offers allows you to explore the limits of your own creativity. We both found the role we played in this project incredibly rewarding, as it involved working on a hospice, a facility with a significant societal function. We wanted to contribute something valuable and sensitive that could make a difference for others. During the design journey, this collaboration led to a dynamic progression, moving from the site and concept to detailed development. We wanted to experience firsthand how it feels to work together as an architecture student and an experienced architect. The collaboration created a unique cross pollination, sparking engaging discussions and exchanges throughout the process. We also find working from a conceptual perspective particularly exciting because it opens up space for innovation and new ways of seeing. By combining freedom, creativity, and collaboration, we not only learned a lot but also truly enjoyed the process itself.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Our Light draws inspiration from the ritual of releasing lanterns onto water, translating this collective act of remembrance into an architectural composition of modular timber volumes arranged on a floating urban site. The design emphasizes openness, adaptability, and emotional resonance, with buildings configured around shared courtyards and linked by soft thresholds. The scheme challenges the isolation often associated with similar programs by placing the structure within the heart of the city, inviting a more public and participatory approach to reflection. Interior spaces support a diversity of needs—ranging from moments of solitude to communal gathering—through flexible, daylight-filled rooms and personalized environments. Sustainability strategies are embedded in both construction logic and long-term adaptability, with prefabricated components, natural ventilation, and user-responsive planning supporting evolving care over time.
2nd Place
Held Between Eucalyptus and Walls
Xiaojin Huang, Gerald Yi En Low, Melissa Chong
Australia
“We see architecture competitions as an opportunity to explore ideas beyond the constraints of client-driven projects. They give us the freedom to question, speculate, and engage with topics we care about. As young professionals, competitions also allow us to sharpen our skills, test collaborative approaches, and develop a voice for the kind of architecture we want to pursue. They are also a chance for us to work with one another, and with others who share similar values and interests in design.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Held Between Eucalyptus and Walls is organized around a gentle choreography of solid and void, weaving architecture with the forested landscape. The plan is arranged radially, with a central cluster of enclosed spaces opening onto gardens and courtyards that encourage movement between indoor and outdoor settings. The scheme emphasizes grounding, sensory experience, and material tactility, using rammed earth, timber, and soft thresholds to create an atmosphere of protection and openness. The architectural massing is low and dispersed, minimizing impact on existing trees and promoting natural integration. Text emphasizes the notion of architecture as a mediator between body, memory, and environment, supporting a spatial rhythm that prioritizes dignity, control, and quiet communion with nature.
3rd Place
Memory House
Pierre-Charles Gauthier
Canada
“Épigraphe participates in architecture competitions to share our ideas and ambitions for the future we are working to build. They provide a creative platform that allows us to dream more freely of places that have yet to exist. Competitions allow us to challenge preconceived notions of how our built and natural environment’s function, and what they should feel and look like. They allow us to improve our methods of visual communication, creating immersive media that illustrates atmospheres and social interactions, inviting others to imagine themselves in the worlds we aspire to live in.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Memory House centers on the idea of memory as a spatial and emotional framework for end-of-life care. Organized in a circular plan, the architecture arranges private and communal spaces around a central water garden, reflecting a desire for orientation, ritual, and seasonal change. Individual rooms are grouped in small gabled units, linked by shared interior corridors and open walkways that frame views to the forest and sky.
Buildner Student Award
Vital Park – A Hospice Among Trees
Nikoleta Mitríková
Slovakia
“For me as a student, competitions are a vital opportunity to explore diverse topics and encounter briefs far beyond the limits of school assignments. They allow for creative freedom, open-mindedness, and professional growth. Competitions are also a way to test one’s skills, gain experience, and even push ideas forward into real-world recognition. I believe that every entry, whether it wins or not, brings value and knowledge that no one can take away from you.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Vital Park is situated in a forest clearing and organized around a central courtyard, with individual units arranged to preserve existing trees and emphasize a continuous relationship between interior and exterior. The architecture is guided by principles of organic integration and spatial permeability, using curved geometries and lightweight construction to create a calming, non-institutional environment. A fine-grained circulation network connects the clustered program elements, allowing for both privacy and shared experience. Emphasis is placed on material tactility, views into planted courtyards, and filtered daylight, creating an atmosphere of softness and quiet orientation within the landscape. The design reflects a deep sensitivity to site and context, proposing a place of retreat that is both open and grounded.
Buildner Sustainability Award
Where Light is Seen, and Nature is Felt
Lampis Farantos, Konstantinos Vlahavas
Greece
“As students, architecture competitions give us a way to test our ideas in the real world—beyond academic boundaries. They allow us to explore what architecture truly means to us, without the fear of being “too early” or “not ready.” We don’t participate to win, but to learn—about space, emotion, people, and ourselves. Competitions challenge us to think critically, to tell stories through design, and to take responsibility for the environments we imagine. They are not only creative exercises, but also moments of growth—opportunities to experiment, collaborate, and develop our architectural voice. For us, it’s less about proving something and more about becoming something.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Titled Where Light is Seen, and Nature is Felt, the project is structured around two perpendicular axes—horizontal and public, vertical and private—that define spatial and emotional orientation. The architecture is designed not as a spectacle but as a setting for clarity, dignity, and reflection, using restrained materials and careful spatial sequencing. Functional spaces such as the kitchen, library, and gathering room are distributed along the public axis, while the chapel and clinical areas are located along the vertical axis, inviting upward contemplation and quiet withdrawal. The olive grove surrounding the structure acts as both threshold and backdrop, reinforcing a dialogue between interior and landscape. Openings, filtered light, and transitions between enclosure and exposure are used to create moments of intimacy and serenity without resorting to decorative excess.
HONORABLE MENTION
Mahābhūta Garden
Shaoyu Chen, Xinyi Liu
United States
HONORABLE MENTION
Echoes on a Shore – Sanctuary at the Edge of Time
Rexhino Qosja
Albania
“In architectural competitions, we are challenged to explore themes that we do not typically consider in our daily work. This presents a valuable opportunity to reflect on societal movements and the role of architecture, adding depth to our usual design proposals.”
HONORABLE MENTION
The Slow Trace
Lee Ji Sung
South Korea
“This competition stood out to us because of its unique challenge. From the start, we had a clear vision: creating a paradoxical experience that combines inflatable architecture with a bold, radiant presence—both inviting and confrontational. The technical complexity made it even more exciting, as it required us to rethink conventional modeling methods. More than anything, we saw this as an opportunity to experiment, take risks, and contribute something fresh to the architectural dialogue.”
HONORABLE MENTION
Serenity Meadow
Calin-Daniel Barut, Stefan Cotetiu, Adrian-George Fulger
Romania
“Through this competition, I sought to express this duality architecturally, ensuring that visitors experience space in a way that evokes memory, reflection, and hope. Architecture can serve as a bridge between the past and the present. Through this competition, I wanted to go beyond simply remembering past tragedies and instead encourage reflection on the kind of future we should build. In this sense, I believed that the Nuclear Bomb Memorial should not be just a space for mourning but one that carries a message for the future—an idea that became the foundation of my design proposal.”
HONORABLE MENTION
BEYOND ROOF – SHELTER OF LIFE
Mingrui Jiang
United States
“We participate in architecture competitions because we are eager to explore the opportunities available to us outside of Vietnam. These competitions provide a platform to showcase our skills and creativity on a global stage, helping us understand where we stand in the international architectural community. Additionally, with a bit of free time on our hands, we see these competitions as a productive way to challenge ourselves, gain new experiences, and grow professionally.”
HONORABLE MENTION
Exhale Here
Yini Yin, Shawn Noam Groisman
Canada
“We saw this competition as an opportunity to collaborate on a project outside of a university or work context. It allowed us to explore ideas freely and develop our skills beyond the constraints of formal education and professional practice. Competitions provide a space for experimentation, learning, and self-improvement while challenging us to think critically and push our creative boundaries.”
SHORTLISTED PROJECTS
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