CAUKIN Studio shortlisted for AJ Small Projects Award
29 March 2018
CAUKIN studio, a collaborative of students from the Welsh School of Architecture, have been shortlisted in the Architects’ Journal (AJ) Small Projects Awards with their design for a kindergarten in Fiji.
The Naweni Kindergarten – designed, built and funded by CAUKIN Studio and the Naqaqa Giving Foundation for £15,000 – serves a number of settlements on the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji. This is CAUKIN Studio’s second project in Fiji, after having completed projects in Cambodia and Indonesia.
CAUKIN work with charities, NGOs and schools worldwide to fundraise, design and build projects for communities in need of new spaces.
The Naweni Kindergarten provides the local children with a dedicated space to learn, after many buildings were destroyed during heavy cyclones in 2016. The new building, constructed during the summer of 2017, consists of a series of portal timber frames, prefabricated on the ground, then lifted into place by hand. Within the portal frames, the space is split into a large classroom, an adjacent toilet and an entrance veranda. The repeated truss structure provides a distinct aesthetic with a high ceiling. The timber frame allows for flexibility against strong cyclone winds, with all connecting junctions carefully considered to ensure there are no weak points.
The annual AJ Small Projects Awards celebrate that scale of design that forms the core practice for many architects, as well as some more off-grid projects that allow practitioners to innovate and experiment, all with a budget of under £250,000.
What the schemes share is an intelligent use of budget and creative answering of a brief – above all, making big architecture on a small scale.
CAUKIN Studio will present their project to a panel of judges, which this year includes Takero Shimazaki, director of Takero Shimazaki Architects; last year’s winner Kate Darby, principal of Kate Darby Architects; and managing director of Lendlease’s European property division Jonathan Emery.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 18 April during the launch event for an exhibition of all the shortlisted entries at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios in London.