A three-member team from the National University of Singapore and The University of Melbourne has beaten 18 other teams from five countries including China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam to clinch the top prize at this year’s International Tropical Architecture Design Competition 2013 for institutes of higher learning, which follows the theme “Live, Study, Play – Our Green Campus”.

A joint submission by Pham Huu Loc (team leader) and Ng Pui Shan from Singapore and Hoang Van Anh from Melbourne, the winning concept – whose form appears inspired by mushrooms – is a vocational education, training and research centre specialising in environment, agriculture, forestry education and sustainability management in Sapa, Vietnam.

Based on a biophilic design concept of using fresh air, daylight and water features, the campus design utilises natural resources such as an innovative earth-air tunnel that helps to reduce the energy required for conditioning the air by using the thermal properties of the earth as a heat exchanger. Other features such as photovoltaic panels, solar water heating and rainwater harvesting further enable the campus to be almost completely self-sustainable while reducing net carbon dioxide emission by more than 70 per cent.

The competition, now in its third cycle, is organised by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA), the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC).

“Because of rapid population growth and climate change, Asia faces looming urban and environmental challenges, With this competition, we want to encourage young architects and designers to start thinking and designing from a sustainable standpoint,” says Tan Tian Chong, BCA’s Group Director for Technology Development, also one of the judges of the competition.

“We are pleased with the entries received and impressed with the overall quality of thinking and design shown. In particular, the “Mushroom Community Campus” entry was a standout and a deserved winner,” he adds.