Design For Impact Challenge

Young urban women across Kerala often face a host of challenges when they move out of home to live on their own. They juggle careers and lives, often from the confines of shabby, shared spaces with little privacy and no room for creative thinking. Our research came up with multiple issues that young women face in co-living spaces, from the lack of privacy and security to limited personalisation, disruptive and noisy spaces, conflicting personal preferences, limited or no space to entertain guests, and more.

My biggest struggle in the space that I share is with keeping common areas neat and tidy, and not having a quiet space where I can study or write, or even make a call in private.

Athira, 24, Engineer in Kochi, who shares an apartment with a friend 

The Challenge

CREATE interior design solutions (concepts/ideas/styles/materials to be used) for a co-living and co-working space for 20 women. The space must be private, secure, and sustainable while remaining budget-friendly and modular. 

The Space To Be Designed

1. Two floors of 2200 sq ft each, one of which will be purely residential and the other will primarily be a co-working space that also includes limited residential spaces.
2. Both floors have the same layout, with a living/dining space, open kitchen and 3 bedrooms that have attached bathrooms. There is also a full-length balcony attached to the living area. 
3. The solutions should look at providing comfortable, private (semi-private) living spaces, and work spaces that foster creativity and collaboration.

Principles to Follow

- Accessibility: The space must be accessible to everyone, including the differently abled.

- Sustainable products: Choose eco-friendly materials and systems.

- Budget-friendly: Design with cost-effectiveness in mind

- Modular design: Think flexibility and adaptability in your plans.

Who Can Participate

Students and practitioners of architecture and interior design can participate in this challenge, individually or as part of a team that has a maximum of 4 members.

What You Need To Do

1. Apply below to participate.
2. Registrations are open between November 14 & November 26, 2023. You may participate as an individual or as part of a team, with a maximum of 4 members. If you are registering as a team, the team lead can register and add the rest as team members.
3. You may mail your final entry to sona@aikyamfellows.org with Design For Impact Challenge in the subject line on or before November 30, 2023. Your entry can be in the form of a presentation, or a short video (not more than 5 minutes long), or in any format that explains your design ideas with clarity.
4. After the November 30 deadline, the judges will evaluate all submitted design solutions according to the guiding principles.
5. The winner will be announced at an event on December 19, 2023, where they will be awarded the certificate and cash prize.

Our Panel

Your designs will be evaluated by a panel of experts in architecture & interior design; the panel will also include a young woman facing a co-living challenge to ensure a balanced assessment. The winning individual/team will be awarded a Design For Impact winner certificate and a cash prize of ₹15,000. All participants will receive a certificate of participation that can be downloaded from our website.