Joanna Wnuczek from the Faculty of Architecture of Wrocław University of Science and Technology has received a distinction in the international MultiComfort House Student Contest. The jury recognised the design of a Dubai residential estate developed by our student.

It was already 14th edition of MultiComfort House Student Contest, organised by Saint-Gobain with support from Dubai Municipality and Dubai Properties Group. Its participants were tasked with a project that consisted in preparing an architectural and urban development design of a model residential estate to be located on the coast of Al Jaddaf bay in Dubai. 50 entries, authored by teams hailing from 28 countries, qualified for the final stage of the competition.

The designs had to be in line with the vernacular architecture movement, which means consistency with the local traditions.  Moreover, the authors of the entries had to allow for the climatic conditions in Dubai, where the average temperature in summer reaches over 40 degrees Celsius, and the hot and humid atmosphere is coupled with strong winds causing sandstorms.

The work “Desert Bloom” authored by Joanna Wnuczek, whose supervisor is Anna Bać, PhD, DSc, Eng, Arch from WUST’s Faculty of Architecture, is based on a reference to the local culture as well as involving the use of innovative materials. 

- As far as my project goes, I focused on solutions that favour the development of a vibrant and lively community. For instance, the urban development concept involves high mounting of the streets’ shielding. The panels feature wavy shapes, likening them to desert dunes - says Joanna Wnuczek. - Their openwork surface draws on the traditional wooden mashrabiyas, which are shutters for many centuries protecting dwellers from sunlight at the same time letting in fresh air.  The panels will bring life to the streets of Dubai; protected from the heat, noise, and dust, they will again become a meeting place.

The author also presented spacious terraces, whose style drawn on the architecture of the East. - It’s them that, juxtaposed with the glazed façades, contribute to the creation of a private space combined, as it were, with the scenery surrounding the residential estate - tells us Joanna Wnuczek.