George Clarke launches MOBIE and Lovell Birmingham Design Challenge

George Clarke has launched a new design challenge for the young people of Birmingham at UK Construction Week at the NEC. The challenge in partnership with housebuilder Lovell is asking young people to design a sustainable future home and community for Birmingham, for a site of their choice, that reduces energy use and reuses and recyles materials where possible, to 'Think Circular'.

Considering Birmingham’s need for 65,000 new homes by 2031, Lovell and MOBIE are working closely with Birmingham City Council to ensure that the city’s future housing stock meets the needs of its future occupiers and that young people growing up in the city can really benefit from this major investment.

Open to schools across Birmingham, the aim of the challenge is to engage young people in thinking about the type of homes that the city needs for the future and how they can be designed and built more sustainably, with the hope of attracting the city’s brightest young talent into the housing and construction sectors in the future.

The challenge is open to secondary school students, who will compete in two age categories: ages 11 – 15 and 16-18. Students can participate individually or as part of a group, offering a platform for collaboration and teamwork. Entries can take various forms, providing participants with creative freedom. Whether through physical designs or digital drawings, students can bring their ideas to life by hand or by using cutting-edge CAD software.

George Clarke said:

“MOBIE has been engaging with the next generation of housing since 2017, and we’re continually blown away by their creativity, imagination and passion when it comes to designing places that not only look beautiful, but that provide high living standards and make a significant contribution to the net zero economy."

Clarke added:

“We are excited to collaborate with Lovell, including the forthcoming Birmingham Housing Week, which will enable us to hear from even more diverse voices and work together to shape the future of the city’s housing sector".

Stuart Penn, Regional Managing Director of Lovell Partnerships, said:

“Lovell is passionate about engaging future talent and providing them with opportunities to have their say on how we can build a better Birmingham. The energy and creativity of young people always amazes us, and we are all looking forward to seeing the challenge entries and how the next generation wants us to design and deliver new homes".

Penn added:

“Through the challange, schools' workshops at UK Construction Week, and in turn through the wider Birmingham Housing Week, we hope to highlight the many career opportunities available to young people in the housing sector and to help them be passionate about the design and quality of the homes that we build*".

Entries will close on 30th June 2024. For those wishing to express an interest in this challenge or to find out more about the terms and conditions and submission requirements, please contact: home@mobie.org.uk.