The winners of the “Prefab House of the Year 2022” competition were announced yesterday. First prize was awarded to an apartment building built by Kodumaja in Norway. A total of 16 prefab wooden buildings qualified for the competition.
The competition was organised by the Estonian Woodhouse Association and the Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster for the twelfth time, and its main purpose is to recognise the best prefab wooden buildings produced by Estonian companies and to introduce the possibilities of wooden construction. Over the years, more than 220 different prefab buildings from different countries have participated in the competition. This year, most of the nominated wooden buildings were located in Sweden, Norway, and Estonia.
The winners of the Prefab House of the Year 2022 competition were announced as part of the opening event of Estbuild Fair. The winners were congratulated by member of the Riigikogu and Chairperson of the Environment Committee, Yoko Alender, who pointed out the important thoughts expressed at the conference on sustainable construction. “In the context of making construction sustainable, attention must be paid to several things. In addition to the well-thought-out development of urban areas and the circular economy, we must focus on the use of smart technologies, automation, and modularity. Today’s winners are already developing these areas.”
The overall winner of the competition was Kodumaja, who was also awarded the Best Apartment Building title for the apartment building complex consisting of two buildings with 43 apartments. The jury highlighted the complex technical solution of the buildings and the pleasantly articulated architecture, which creates a high-quality living environment for future residents. According to the jury, the technical sophistication is characterised by the fact that the six floors of the building are made of a timber frame modules. Using various joints, large spans, and versatile combination of façade materials also add complexity to the object. All in all, the project by Kodumaja was visually and architecturally enjoyable and provided a well-thought-out living environment.
Mihkel Uibo, CEO of Kodumaja Projekteerimise OÜ, humorously commented that Kodumaja is not even capable of building small houses. “We have chosen to focus on tall and spacious modular buildings, which we are able to do thanks to our great customers who trust us with their architecturally and technically exciting projects.” According to Uibo, being recognised at the Prefab House of the Year competition is always a nice surprise and Kodumaja is very happy when the buildings get noticed by others. “I would like to thank the organisers of the competition. Let us hope that the coming years will bring new exciting projects.”
Prefab House of the Year 2022 competition results:
- Overall Winner, Best Apartment Building and ITW Construction Products special prize – Kodumaja apartment buildings in Norway
- Best Real Estate Development and Tyvek special prize – Timbeco Woodhouse OÜ apartment building development in Norway
- Best Private House and Revismo 3D Studio special prize – Finnlog OÜ CLT private house in Lääne-Harju municipality
- Best Small Construction – Vipson Projekt OÜ smoke sauna in Southern Estonia
- Best Special Solution – Timbeco Woodhouse OÜ renovation of an apartment building in Saue
- ISOVER special prize for the most energy-efficient building – KMT Prefab OÜ façade elements for a nursing home in Norway
- Velux special prize “Best lighting solution” – Happy Home (HH Prefab OÜ) CLT private house on Saaremaa
- Monier special prize “Best tile roof on a prefab building” and Raitwood special prize “Best timber use” – EstHus OÜ MHM private house in Pärnu county
- AkzoNobel special prize “Best colour solution”, ESSVE special prize and SENCO special prize – Matek AS terraced house in Sweden
- Riwega special prize – Nord Homes OÜ guest house in Kuusalu municipality
- Delfi moodnekodu.ee readers special prize – Kodumaja apartment buildings in Norway
The award ceremony took place on 6 April as part of the Estbuild Fair.
Jury members: TalTech Professor of Building Physics Dr. Targo Kalamees, Director of TalTech Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture Dr. Jarek Kurnitski, architects Markus Kaasik and Veronika Valk-Siska, journalists Eva Kiisler and Irmeli Karja, and Development Advisor of the Woodouse Estonia Elar Vilt.
Sponsors:
Organizers:
The Prefab House of the Year competition is financed by the Estonian wooden house export cluster project, which is supported by the EAS cluster development measure, which is financed by the European Regional Development Fund.