Architecture student celebrates winning first prize in international design competition (From Croydon Guardian)

Architecture student celebrates winning first prize in international design competition

11:30am Friday 24th August 2012 in Local news By Hannah Williamson

An architecture student is celebrating winning first prize in an international design competition.

Jeffrey Adjei who lives in Croydon, beat hundreds of entrants from 26 countries to be crowned winner of the Design for Adaptable Future ideas competition, set by the Adaptable Futures research centre.

The 25-year-old, who is studying for his Graduate Diploma in Architecture at the University for the Creative Arts, was asked to create a sustainable proposal which illustrated how the life of their design would unfold over time, be it an hour, day, decade or century.

His winning proposal focused on the social structures within a community space in New Addington.

It featured the concept of self-building and looks at a continual collaborative process by linking the community with a vast network of charity and government organisations.

Mr Adjei said: "It feels great to have my work recognised in this way and will give me the motivation and confidence I need going into the final year of my degree in September.

"With the site for my project being located in my home town, this project was very personal to me. It felt like a unique opportunity for me to represent the best way to improve my local community."

Daisy Froud, director of architecture firm AOC and part of the competition's judging panel, said: "I'm really glad Jeffrey's won because it shows a very different approach to an architecture competition.

"He dealt with social sculpture and its speculations, based on research into a specific cultural and perhaps even political context."

Mr Adjei won £1,250 and the opportunity to present at the Adaptable Futures autumn conference.