Building the home of the future: lucky students to see designs brought to life

A group of talented youngsters will today see their dreams come true as the futuristic homes they designed are set to be brought to life.

The 2019 Student Design Challenge, which is being delivered by education charity MOBIE and the recently launched Construction Innovation Hub, invited young people from across the UK to design a home fit for the twenty-first century.

The young designers were asked to imagine what sort of technologies, size and space will be needed to cater for the needs of not only current generation, but generations to come, as ever-changing working patterns and lifestyles transform the way we live our lives.

The lucky winners, set to be announced today at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry by MOBIE founder, renowned architect and TV presenter George Clarke, will see the key elements of their ‘Homes for Life’ built to scale in the form of a ‘film set’ by professional engineers. This film set will be formally unveiled at UK Construction Week in Birmingham this October.

The film set will, in addition, showcase cutting edge manufacturing technologies and digital ways of working which are central to the work of the Construction Innovation Hub. With £72 million from UK Research and Innovation’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Hub aims to be a catalyst to transform the construction sector, changing the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, manufactured, integrated and connected within our built environment.

MOBIE Founder and Trustee, George Clarke, said:

The traditional house building industry needs to modernise. We must design and build differently, produce affordable homes, manufacture them quickly, sustainably and efficiently using modern methods of construction that are both environmentally responsible and meet the needs of the 21st century family home.

The 2019 MOBIE Student Design Challenge asked the designers of the future to provide house builders with some answers and direction.  As always, the amazing creativity and vision of young people did not let us down and we have been wowed by the originality and quality of the submissions. Shortlisting our inspirational student finalists was far from easy. Throughout our age categories, 14 years to adult, we’ve been treated to some brilliant, creative visions of the future family home, embracing technologies and lifestyles that are both realistic and foreseeable.

I am thrilled the Construction Innovation Hub have partnered with MOBIE for this challenge; I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing the prototype development and showcasing of the winning design.”

Construction Innovation Hub Programme Director, Keith Waller, said:

The creativity and imagination these remarkable young people have brought to their designs has been truly outstanding and leaves me feeling very optimistic for the future.

Embracing Modern Methods of Construction and digital ways of working, and attracting more talented young people, will ensure our construction sector continues to thrive and deliver social and economic benefits into the future. That’s why we, as the Construction Innovation Hub, were proud to partner up with MOBIE for the 2019 Student Design Challenge. I’m really looking forward to seeing today’s winning designs brought to life.”

Further Information 

• To contact the Construction Innovation Hub’s press office, please email pressoffice@constructioninnovationhub.org.uk.
• Follow the event in twitter at #2019DesignChallenge #MOBIE @CIH_HUB @MOBIEhome @MrGeorgeClarke
• Established in 2017 by renowned architect and TV presenter, George Clarke, MOBIE aims to inspire new generations to join the building and construction professions and fundamentally transform the way we think, design and construct homes. MOBIE’s focus is on developing innovative ways to build homes, providing access to education and skills development and, vitally, challenging the housing market to do better. This challenge covers all the bases and we look forward to seeing entries from across the country that design homes to genuinely transform the way we live in Britain.
  www.mobie.org.uk
• The Student Design Challenge, is open to young people between the ages of 14-16 years, 16-18 years and 18 plus.