ArchiTeam Awards 2020 Winner Announced - APHA Passive House Scholarship
ArchiTeam Awards 2020
This year ArchiTeam announced a new Partnership with Australian Passive House Association. Entrants competed in designing a trophy for the Passive House category.
Qutaibah Al-Ataf has been announced as the winner of this category and has been awarded a Passive House Scholarship with APHA!
This trophy concept is intended to embody the very principles which underpin the Passive House design approach.
Starting with what this is all about. A large timber block is a stand-in for the land.
The earth. Intentionally disproportionate to the rest of the object.
Embedded into this timber block and separated with an uninterrupted masonry decoupling is a rectangular resin prism: (1) thermal bridge free construction.
Encased and bellowing within the translucent volume is a beautifully hand-woven ribbon - a human silhouette: (2) airtightness, (3) mechanical ventilation heat recovery, and (4) high-performance glazing.
Still air trapped in the form of bubbles: (5) thermal insulation. The base is constructed from repurposed project library samples. PEFC/ FSC certified Tasmanian Oak and carbon neutral clay brick tile sleeve. Epoxy resin formulated with 100% solids, VOC free, and inert once solidified. During the casting process it was of paramount importance to measure out only what is required and not allow any wet mixture to enter the water supply stream. The handwoven ribbon captured within is 100% ethically sourced cotton.
The form celebrates the seamless and elegant integration of Passive House principles and avoids tacking on ‘greenwashing’ apparatus. This in effect personifies the challenge for ArchiTeam of advocating for truly sustainable architecture as a mainstream approach. Who best to do so, but emerging practices with the assistance of allied professions and artists, tirelessly seeking to innovate and continuously ask the big questions.
This Passive House trophy was a collaboration with local textile designer Inneka Moorhouse.
Having practised both locally and briefly in Japan, Qutaibah has led the design and end-to-end delivery of quality site-responsive projects across residential, multi residential and commercial building typologies.
A finalist in the 2020 AIA Dulux Study Tour, Qutaibah’s design and technical acumen is a rigorous pursuit of a well rounded set of skills and curiosities.
His appetite to absorb new ideas and expand his outlook has seen him recently attain a qualification as a NatHERS residential building energy consultant. Seeking to embed evidence-based ecologically sensitive design into more mainstream architectural practice, Qutaibah looks to empower fellow architects to abandon the ‘tick box’ approach, and instead strive for progress over perfection. Small footprint, yet livable places to inhabit.
In practice, Qutaibah relishes the opportunity to mentor young architects and feels this collaborative approach engenders a fresh perspective to any possible outcome. He has taught design studio and sat on review panels at both Deakin University and Melbourne University.
Qutaibah is a published architectural writer and as part of initiatives like New Architects Melbourne, he continues to play an active role in the wider architectural community. He grew up in New Zealand and was born in Muqdadiyah, Iraq in 1986.
Find out more about APHA education launch here.
