The Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition invites students to create eco-friendly designs for city spaces as part of Perth Design Week.
Students go on a journey to learn about sustainable development and urban change, helping to imagine a better future for the City of Stirling. The competition lets students design and build models of eco-friendly urban spaces for real suburban areas.
2025 Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition - Register your interest
The City is excited to once again be a part of Perth Design Week!
The Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition offers students the chance to develop and model cutting-edge sustainable urban infill designs for real suburban blocks.
If you are interested in submitting an entry for the 2025 Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition, please fill in the form below.
Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition 2024
As part of Perth Design Week 2024, the City of Stirling called out for ambitious primary, secondary and tertiary students to join the “coalition of the infilling” and engage in the creation of an innovative and sustainable infill design project.
We invited up to 250 students to be taken on a sustainable development journey which helped them understand urban change and be part of imagining a better future for the City. The Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition (SSSDC) offered them a chance to develop and physically model a cutting-edge sustainable urban infill design project for a real-life suburban block.
A huge congratulations to all the talented students who participated in our Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition as part of Perth Design Week. The students who participated in this sustainable development journey are inspiring and have helped imagine what a better future for the City looks like. Our winners were at the Sustainable Stirling Awards Gala held at the City of Stirling Reception hall.
One of the biggest challenges facing our City is how to meet State targets for housing supply while improving the quality and sustainability of our local areas for current and future residents.
Creative new approaches to infill development and a 'coalition of the infilling' are going to be needed if we are going to imagine a better future for Stirling and build a sustainable City with a local focus.
With that background, participants were asked to create a scale model of a sustainable infill-style development based on a real suburban site in Stirling using the existing planning and subdivision frameworks. Details of the site were provided when participants registered for the competition.
Categories
- Primary school students
- Secondary school students
- Tertiary school students (university, TAFE and colleges)
- Mayor’s Commendation Medal for Sustainable Design
Matt Wallwork, Chris Ferreira and The Forever Project partnered with the City to help run the competition. The model entries were showcased at the City of Stirling during Perth Design Week 2024, and winners were judged by a range of industry and community leaders.
The Forever Project had been organizing workshops on sustainable infill projects for the past 15 years, demonstrating alternative approaches to development. Extending this knowledge to students in the City of Stirling proved to be an exciting opportunity to educate future generations. The intention was to teach students about how past rezoning and development of suburbs could lead to the disappearance of green urban canopy, causing heat island effect and social isolation.
Under the theme “coalition of the infilling,” the competition sought to inspire creative new infill development options utilizing existing subdivision and planning laws. Participants were rewarded for promoting solutions that aligned with contemporary sustainable building practices and enhanced social, environmental, and community connection.
Entries were judged based on the core values highlighted in the workshops and reflected in Design WA’s 10 principles of good design.
- Context and character
Does the entry respond to the distinctive characteristics of the City of Stirling? - Landscape quality
Does the design incorporate FireWise principles and preserve urban canopy? - Built form and scale
Does the entry creatively address the intended future character of the area as an urban centre with more houses? - Functionality
Will the design be easy to live in and include all required services? Could the development adapt over time to the needs of different homeowners? - Sustainability
Does the design reflect passive solar design and passive house principles? To what extent are existing materials used and repurposed in the development? - Amenity
Does the entry maximise external and internal amenity for residents, visitors, and neighbours? Does it provide an environment that is comfortable, productive, and healthy? - Legibility
Can people find their way around the development easily? - Safety
Will the development be safe for its residents and visitors? - Community
Does the design encourage community engagement and social inclusion? Does the development offer housing choice and diversity for residents with different ages, living needs and budgets? - Aesthetics
Is the design attractive, original, and innovative?
For the 2024 competition, a $4000 prize pool was offered to the winners of all three categories, plus a special ‘Mayor’s Commendation Medal for Sustainable Design’ award:
- 4x $1000 vouchers for Karrinyup Shopping Centre
- Water Wise gift pack for each winner
For full terms and conditions of the Sustainable Stirling Student Design Competition 2024, please view here.
Useful resources
Sustainable House: Living for Our Future by Michael Mobbs
The Gaia Atlas of Cities: New Directions for Sustainable Urban Living by Herbert Girardet
For more information, please contact our Community Engagement Coordinator at james.murphy@stirling.wa.gov.au
