For the last twenty years, Fallingwater has sponsored on-site residency programs for teachers as well as high school, college and graduate school students. Our programs have educated people from around the world. Unfortunately, inadequate lodging for participants presents an ongoing challenge for these activities. To address this need, Fallingwater plans to construct six on-site cottages that will increase housing capacity for program participants. Each cottage will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified Platinum, energy-efficient, site-sensitive and low-maintenance.

To attract the most creative and innovative designs, Fallingwater is holding a juried Architectural Design Competition of Ideas. We’ve asked architectural firms to design six cottage units that average 600 to 800 square feet. For the purposes of the competition, the firms were asked to design one unit in detail and suggest locations of five others.

Our requirements for these designs are rigorous. The houses must not merely be simple structures; they should drive educational programming, inquiry, and stewardship while fostering an intellectual community and democratic social construction. Both low-maintenance and energy-efficient, the units will demonstrate to program participants and other stakeholders that ‘green’ design can be seamlessly integrated into the site and situation - enhancing architectural, environmental, and human experience outcomes.

Finalists were chosen from across North America, and on February 26, six finalists met to present their ideas, braving almost three feet of snow to make it to Fallingwater.

The finalists were:

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects – Halifax, Nova Scotia
www.mlsarchitects.ca

Marlon Blackwell Architect - Fayetteville, Arkansas
www.marlonblackwell.com

Olson Kundig Architects – Seattle, Washington
www.olsonkundigarchitects.com

Patkau Architects Inc – Vancouver, British Columbia
www.patkau.ca

Saucier+Perrotte Architects – Montréal, Québec
www.saucierperrotte.com

Wendell Burnette Architects – Phoenix, Arizona
www.wendellburnettearchitects.com

A jury will discuss and choose first, second and third place winners in late May. Following the competition and announcement of a winner, there will be an exhibition of the finalists’ work, entitled Design Competition: New Cottages at Fallingwater, at the Heinz Architectural Center in Pittsburgh. All entries from the teams will be on display at the Heinz Architectural Center in summer 2010.