Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning launches Map Bank competition

Muscat: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MoHUP) launched the Map Bank competition, believing in the importance of community participation in various fields and projects, and enhancing communication and participation. The first five projects will receive cash prizes.

 The competition aims to provide integrated and innovative architectural maps for citizens benefiting from the housing assistance programme, and to raise the efficiency of housing assistance designs. In addition to enhancing the community participation of consulting offices and specialised design offices to serve the social housing sector programme.

 Faisal bin Rabie Al Farsi, Acting Director of the Design and Quantities Department, said: "The target group to participate in this competition is architectural design offices and consulting offices, as part of enhancing communication and participation in developing design concepts that serve the social housing category. The designs must be distinctive and innovative, taking into account sustainability standards, and not copied or similar to other designs that have not been implemented before."

The competition is divided into two phases, the first phase includes a brief description of the idea and the four facades of the building for each model, presenting a 3D perspective, horizontal and vertical projections for each model, as well as the estimated cost of construction.

 As for the second stage, it consists of providing detailed, structural and electromechanical maps, a list of materials used, a table of quantities, and a video of the interior design. Requirements will be evaluated according to cost and feasibility.

 The Acting Director of the Design and Quantities Department added that the competition includes general requirements, such as the design being flexible, capable of future expansion, and suitable for all age groups of family members, and presenting a package of designs for three categories of beneficiaries of the social housing program. Pointing out that the submitted architectural designs will be subject to a set of evaluation bases that depend on innovation, sustainability, future expandability and flexibility in space utilization.

 Al Farsi indicated that the outputs of the competition contribute to facilitating and saving effort while reducing the time period by providing integrated architectural and structural maps. In addition to ensuring that there are a variety of design options that are compatible with the size of the Omani family benefiting from the programme, with modern and high-quality facades that can be renewed, added and expanded in the future, with an emphasis on not obligating the beneficiary to use maps, leaving room for freedom of choice between the designs available in the Ministry or the freedom to design a house plan according to his desire and choice.