SketchUp
Students Design
Competition 2026

Overview of Design
Competition Theme
“Inherited Futures”

Every building inherits a history and shapes our cities with a complex architectural legacy. Traditional structures hold cultural memory and climate wisdom but risk being lost or preserved as relics. Conversely, decades of rapid, generic construction produced buildings that ignored local climate and identity.

Regardless of building status, the embodied carbon locked within their walls represents an environmental cost already paid. Replacing them with yet another building solves nothing and learns nothing.

This competition challenges students to investigate the existing structure—its climate knowledge, cultural memory, triumphs, failures, and flaws—treating it as the raw material for invention. The process begins with rigorous archaeology of what is present, followed by invention discovered from within, not imposed from outside. The outcome is not restoration, but a future rooted in this specific place, this culture, this climate, and inheritance.

The Design Brief

• Students must select an existing building in their city or country and transform it with a considered architectural addition.
• Students are encouraged to define their own program for the building, the program must act as a compelling catalyst for the existing structure and be clearly justified in the design statement “A Community Cultural Centre” can be baseline as starting point, but unexpected typologies are encouraged
• Students may choose existing building from the full spectrum of built environments :
  • Option 1  : Heritage/Historical Sites: Recognized landmarks or traditional structures to explore  embedded climate wisdom and cultural memory.
  • Option 2 : Generic/Everyday Structures: Anonymous office blocks, disused warehouses, or utilitarian builds to correct environmental disconnect and radically redefine purpose.
• Criteria for Existing Building:
  • It need not be architecturally significant or celebrated (can be a protected landmark or an ordinary, imperfect shell)
  • It must be real and occupy a specific place.
  • Its history (monumental or mundane, wise or flawed) must reveal something about the place's culture and climate.

Challenges of Design Competition

• The Approach

  The addition must not erase the existing building. It should respond to, learn from, and, if needed, correct it. The existing building's awkwardness is part of the design challenge.

• Scale

  The addition's total floor area must be no less than 30% and no more than 75% of the existing building's gross floor area. All existing floor area calculations must be clearly documented and submitted.

• Structure Legibility

  The existing building structure must remain legible in the final design. Partial demolition is permitted only where it can be demonstrated as essential to the architectural argument, and must be clearly justified in the design statement.

• Climate Response

  The addition must demonstrate a considered response to the climate of the chosen site, including orientation, shading, ventilation, and material selection. Students are strongly encouraged to use SketchUp PreDesign at the outset of the project to analyse historical climate data and identify appropriate design strategies. PreDesign is included with SketchUp Studio EDU version and requires no additional setup or cost.

• The Programme

  Students entirely welcome to redefine the building’s purpose—whether they propose a community cultural centre, a commercial space, a community spa, a server farm that utilizes natural ventilation and cooling as a core design driver, or an entirely new typology. Whatever direction students choose, they must clearly justify their programmatic decisions and typological shifts in their design statement.

  Several suggested spaces that can be part of building

  • Core Public Spaces: Flexible Hall, Gallery or Exhibition Space, Communal Lobby and Reception etc

  • Hospitality & Amenities: Café or Communal Kitchen, Service Kitchen etc

  • Back of House & Operations: Staff Room & Administration, Storage & Equipment Room, Waste & Recycling area etc

  Students welcome to create their own spaces inside the building with valid justifications

  If students choose to proceed with the Community Cultural Centre baseline, or wish to adapt these core community functions into their own proposed typology, consider the following spatial relationships. Strict area requirements (sqm) have intentionally been omitted so as not to limit your imaginative scope.

• Software Constraints

  A native SketchUp model file must be submitted. Students may use any additional software for rendering, drawing, and presentation, but the SketchUp model is non-negotiable and will be reviewed by judges as evidence of design thinking.

• The Core Questions

  Students must provide answers for following three questions:

  • What is the addition ..?
  • Why it’s form..?
  • How does it function spatially, climatically, and in relation to the existing building ..?

Competition Guidelines
& Rules

• Eligibility

  The competition is open to all active higher education students (University, Technical School, College, Polytechnic ) from architecture, interior design, and other design disciplines. Participants must possess a valid SketchUp license and demonstrate proficiency in SketchUp.

• Team Composition

  Teams may consist of up to three students and must include one lecturer or design tutor  (educator) to serve as their mentor. Mentor's role is strictly advisory. Entire 3D model and all final drawings/presentation slides must be created solely by the student team. Mentors should be allowed to provide conceptual and technical guidance, but not direct modeling, drafting, or presentation work.

• Competition Format (Workflow)

  The competition will proceed in two stages:

  • Online Stage: Initial submission and evaluation.
  • Onsite Stage (Final Presentation): The top 8 teams will be invited to present their designs to a panel of professional judges from Industry, Academia, and Trimble.

• Originality

  All submissions must be original, created specifically for this competition, and must not have been previously submitted or published.

• Intellectual Property (IP)

  By submitting an entry, participants grant Trimble SketchUp permission to use their models and presentation decks for promotional and marketing purposes. Participants are responsible for crediting all third-party resources used and ensuring their work does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.

• Disqualification

  Any instance of plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification from the competition.

• Changes to Rules

  Trimble SketchUp reserves the right to modify or amend the competition rules at any time. Participants will be notified of any changes.

Submission Requirements

• Eligibility

  • Submit a single PowerPoint file of no more than 20 slides.
  • Formatted in landscape orientation at a 16:9 ratio.
  • Communicate the project primarily through architectural drawings, diagrams, models, photography, and visual analysis.
  • Text constraints: Text on slides must be limited to titles, labels, and short identifying phrases only. Complete sentences are not permitted. If a drawing requires a sentence to explain it, the drawing has not done its job.
  • Presentations must collectively address:
    • Analysis of the existing building (structure, spatial organisation, climate performance, cultural context).
    • Documentation of the SketchUp PreDesign climate analysis.
    • The design concept and argument (what, why, and how).
    • Architectural drawings (plans, sections, elevations at appropriate scales).
    • At least one spatial visualisation showing the relationship between the existing building and the addition.
  • The proposed cultural programme and spatial resolution.

• Design Statement

  • Submit a separate written statement of no more than 300 words on a single A4 page (PDF format).
  • Must answer: What is the addition? Why does it take the form it does? How does it work spatially, climatically, and in relation to the existing building?
  • Text only: No images, diagrams, or renderings are permitted on this page.

• SketchUp Model File

  • Submit a native SketchUp model file.
  • The model must accurately represent the proposed addition and its relationship to the existing building.
  • Sun path and shadow studies must be submitted as separate screenshots.

• Floor Area Documentation

  • A clear floor area schedule must be included within the PowerPoint presentation.
  • Must show: existing building gross floor area, addition gross floor area, percentage increase, and a room-by-room breakdown confirming compliance with space requirements.

• A Prove of Valid SketchUp License (One team required 1 license)

  • Capture your AMP (Account Management Portal), with your email address written there / https://ecom-prd.trimblepaas.com/account/organization

    

Completion Timeline

Prizes

• Top 8 Best Teams from Online Submissions

  • USD 1,000 per team
  • Invitation to the Final Presentation in Bali, 16 September 2026 - 18 September 2026

• Regional Competition Winners al (On-Site Presentation)

  • USD 1,000 per team
  • Invitation to the Final Presentation in Bali, 16 September 2026 - 18 September 2026