University of Portsmouth Sustainability Prize 2023

Date posted: July 31, 2023

Every year we present one final year Master’s student from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Architecture with the ArchitecturePLB Sustainability Prize. The prize is designed to celebrate, challenge, and explore concepts of sustainability. The prize is judged by a selection of the ArchitecturePLB team in conjunction with the student’s tutors. The 2023 winner was announced at the prize giving ceremony on the 21st July.

Congratulations to Jodie Howards, who has been awarded the prize for her final Thesis Design Project: An Ecological Entanglement.

Jodie’s thesis project for an Ecological Centre was inspired by a desire to create a deep ecological connection between the building and the site, a biodiverse sandbar in northern Venice. This led to Jodie’s own research into the potential for a new material which she called Salt-Crete; a mixture of locally sourced salts, brines and cement, experimenting at home with different mixtures to ascertain the most structural and moisture resistant result. Her aim was to create an intervention that allowed human activity and nature to interact through co-existence and be regenerative by design.

With on-going conversations in the industry about Operational and Embodied Carbon, is it fantastic to see a student who is focussing on the ecological impact of their design, creating something that contributes to the local infrastructure during use, while also being cognisant of its end of its life impacts. Well done, Jodie!