Buildner is pleased to announce the results of the Howard Waterfall Retreat competition, a design challenge calling for proposals for a multi-generational family retreat situated in the forested landscape of Howard, Pennsylvania.
Set beside a dramatic waterfall on private land, the project invited architects and designers to imagine a retreat that balances shared and private living spaces, engages with the site’s extraordinary topography, and integrates sustainable principles with a respect for memory and place.
Organized in close collaboration with the Howard Family Trust—landowners and visionaries for this project—the competition emphasized a deep connection to nature and a meaningful reinterpretation of legacy through architecture. Proposals were encouraged to consider the delicate relationship between built form and natural elements such as water, rock, forest, and terrain, and to create a design that could evolve with the family over generations.
This was an opportunity to design with the intention of future construction, offering participants the chance to contribute meaningfully to a real project with an intimate and powerful brief. The result was an extraordinary breadth of design responses from around the world, reflecting diverse interpretations of place, family, sustainability, and retreat.
The jury was impressed by the overall quality and sensitivity of the submissions and is proud to share the winning entries that best captured the spirit of the site and the aspirations of the client.
The first prize was awarded to Mathieu Henri Pierre Nouhen from France for Strata House, a sensitive design that preserves elements of the original cottage while introducing new communal spaces shaped by the terrain. The second prize went to Aleksandra Zofia Forystek, Min Kyu Kim, and Zehua He from the United States for Branch House, which reinterprets the traditional cottage form through branching volumes that blend with the forest. Third prize was awarded to Jamie Kevin Willmer and Maureen Armida Vivienne Soupe from the United Kingdom for Triptyque, a composition of three wings that reflect the rhythms of daily life and the beauty of the site.
The Student Award went to Matěj Čech and Filip Ježdík from the Czech Republic, and the Sustainability Award to Weichen Wang, Mengyu Zhao, and Viktor Fomin from the United States for Nature Within, which integrates the historic cottage into a broader ecological design.
Buildner congratulates all winners and extends appreciation to every participant whose thoughtful proposals celebrated the harmony between architecture, nature, and legacy.
1st Place
Strata House
Mathieu Henri Pierre Nouhen
France
“My regular participation in idea competitions maintains the in-depth conceptual dimension of architectural work. This practice is also nourished by creating micro-architecture installations for contemporary art festivals. These experiences generate a continuous dynamic of experimentation, research, and reflection.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Strata House preserves the historic upper structure of the original cottage while introducing a new lower-level volume subtly embedded in the terrain. The design organizes movement as a slow descent from arrival to river’s edge, culminating in a communal space immersed in the landscape. The upper floor retains private functions, while the garden level hosts shared spaces including a library, kitchen, and indoor garden. Architectural interventions remain minimal and sensitive, emphasizing continuity with site and history. Sustainability is addressed through rainwater harvesting, controlled irrigation, and passive thermal strategies, with the overall composition reflecting the geological strata of the site.
2nd Place
Branch
Aleksandra Zofia Forystek, Min Kyu Kim, Zehua He
United States
“We participate in architecture competitions because they offer a unique and essential platform to experiment with ideas beyond the constraints of traditional practice. Competitions are critical for fostering speculative thinking, allowing us to explore alternative design languages and ontologies that might not be feasible in conventional, budget-driven projects. Ultimately, we are driven by the desire to challenge design norms and unlock new creative opportunities, letting our imaginations lead us to truly captivating spaces and innovative design ideas. This process of ambitious exploration and unconstrained problem-solving is what makes competitions an excellent platform to showcase our interests and push the boundaries of design.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Branch House retains the pitched roof form of the original cottage while introducing a sprawling, horizontal addition that responds to the site’s topography and ecological richness. The new volumes extend outward like branches, each oriented to frame views of the river, waterfall, and forest, while maintaining a respectful deference to the historic structure. A generous roof deck and green roof system double as an elevated landscape, merging architecture and terrain. The plan is clearly zoned, separating communal, private, and service areas, and offering seamless indoor-outdoor connections across levels. Structural lightness is achieved through a stilted foundation system that minimizes ground disturbance and elevates living spaces above the stream. Sustainability strategies include material reuse, passive solar design, thermal massing, and rainwater recycling, resulting in a low-impact, high-performance retreat. The architecture proposes a contemporary reinterpretation of the cottage typology while crafting a strong spatial narrative rooted in immersion and preservation.
3rd Place
Triptyque
Jamie Kevin Willmer, Maureen Armida Vivienne Soupe
United Kingdom
“Architecture competitions are one of the best ways to explore design and test ideas against those of other talented architects. Analysing the results and comparing different proposals is an excellent way to learn from other perspectives and gain inspiration from innovative ideas. Competitions also offer a unique opportunity to challenge ourselves on the international stage and push our own limits. We select sites and briefs according to the themes we wish to study and develop, treating them as a personal training ground for experimentation.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Triptyque honors the site’s inherited cottage while expanding the program into three distinct wings that mirror the rhythms of daily life—morning, day, and evening. Anchored to the terrain and oriented to the waterfall, the composition carefully navigates the landscape through low-slung forms that emphasize horizontality. Each wing is shaped by site exposure: the Howard Wing recalls the legacy of the original home; the Falls Wing opens to communal life near the water’s edge; and the Evening Wing offers retreat, views, and warmth around a fire garden. A shared garden axis ties these volumes together with delicate landscaping, curated views, and ecological intent. The architecture is restrained yet expressive—allowing the topography, geology, and light to guide spatial sequence and atmosphere. Sustainable design strategies include rainwater harvesting, green roofs, and solar energy, all subtly integrated to reinforce the project’s deference to its environment and legacy.
Buildner Student Award
Roll The Dice!
Matěj Čech, Filip Ježdík
Czech Republic
“For us, architecture competitions are a way to grow both professionally and personally. They offer the chance to explore diverse topics, approach new challenges, and stay creative outside of academic work. Also, competitions are giving us the joy of designing and creating something new and meaningful.”
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JURY FEEDBACK summary
Roll the Dice is a contemporary reimagining of a forested family retreat, composed of three modular brick volumes carefully arranged around a central open-air courtyard. The project emphasizes internal spatial relationships over formal monumentality, using a grid-based logic to organize living spaces, terraces, and private rooms into a fluid yet compartmentalized plan. Each volume serves a distinct function and is linked by transparent connectors that frame curated views and preserve existing trees. The architecture is minimal and orthogonal, with subtle shifts in level responding to the sloped site. A rooftop garden and extensive green roof strategy reinforce the ecological narrative, while natural materials and warm interior finishes support a domestic atmosphere. However, the proposal chooses to fully replace the original cottage with a more abstract composition, engaging selectively—rather than holistically—with the site’s history, terrain, and hydrological constraints. While the overall organization is refined and the courtyard strategy elegant, the siting strategy remains somewhat ambiguous in relation to the floodplain and pre-existing conditions.
Buildner Sustainability Award
Nature Within | Forest Around
Weichen Wang, Mengyu Zhao, Viktor Fomin
United States
JURY FEEDBACK summary
Nature Within preserves and repurposes the modest historic cottage by embedding it within a broader architectural and ecological strategy. The design extends the existing structure horizontally, maintaining its symbolic prominence while introducing a new pavilion-like living room and a lower-level courtyard surrounded by bedrooms. This arrangement allows a natural sequence of movement across the sloped site—from communal spaces to private rooms—while celebrating both the waterfall and forest surroundings. The integration of seasonal strategies, passive thermal cooling, and multiple exterior thresholds encourages year-round engagement with the landscape. Through restrained subtraction, thoughtful addition, and formal integration, the project succeeds in respecting the site’s memory and topography without overpowering it.
HONORABLE MENTION
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Hongyang Deng, Bocan Cheng, Muyao Ma, Laowanhsi Nang
China
“An architectural competition is a high-intensity exercise in design. The time limits and content requirements can greatly enhance one’s ability to integrate information and express ideas, while also allowing participants to transcend regional limitations, engage with diverse site conditions, and foster innovative thinking.”
HONORABLE MENTION
Long
Haoyang Song, Yijie Gui, Meng Huang
United States
HONORABLE MENTION
Howard Waterfall Retreat
Laert Hoxha
France
“The economic development of Studio HOXHA is mainly based on private clients, through direct commissions and partnerships with different stakeholders. In this context, competitions are not our main source of work, but they occupy an essential place in the practice of architecture. I had the opportunity to take part in public competitions early in my career, when I was working with the agency SCAU. There I discovered that competitions are one of the few arenas where architects can fully express their potential, confront their ideas, and give their very best. Today, even though the agency’s activity relies mostly on private projects, I strive to participate in at least one competition per year. It is a way to revitalize the spirit of the agency, to stimulate creativity, and to rekindle the ‘grinta’ – the drive to win and surpass ourselves. It is also a breath of fresh air that frees our creative energy and nourishes our daily projects.”
HONORABLE MENTION
WEAVE
Karin Annika Kristina Krokfors
Finland
“Perhaps the most important role competitions play for me is the opportunity to develop design skills and broaden my knowledge base as a practicing architect through the intense competition process, where the focus is on conceptual design and the early design phase. In competitions, you can quite freely develop and test new ideas and architectural approaches, as many parties that commission architectural competitions seek them. If the competition program and location are as inspiring as this one, it also brings great joy in participating.”
HONORABLE MENTION
Like Water
Temitope Israel Akinsiku, Deborah Kikelomo Oluwade, Victor Chukwuemeka Igene
Canada
“We participate in architectural competitions to challenge ourselves with diverse project typologies and broaden our understanding of different global contexts. Each competition offers a unique opportunity to experiment with various design narratives and technologies, serving as a testing ground for new ideas and approaches. This process ultimately advances our knowledge base and skill set, informing and enriching our future projects.”
HONORABLE MENTION
Woodenstone Retreat
Jenny Bucay, Paulina Hidalgo Monroy Kunz, Ana Lucia Muñoz Sanchez
Mexico
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