MT. VERNON, IOWA - The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) - a non-profit international organization that serves to expand and improve the use of Tilt-Up as the preferred construction method - has announced the winners of "TCA/PCA Storm Housing 2007," an international design competition.

Students in the field of architecture, currently in graduate or undergraduate programs, were invited to present conceptual designs for a storm-resistant housing complex located along the Gulf Coast using site cast concrete Tilt-Up panels for their shell components.

The competition sought to challenge entrants to creatively solve the problem of replacing large volumes of single-family housing for lower income levels in Biloxi, Miss. - one of the regions hardest hit by recent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Entrants were encouraged to present prominent, architecturally significant design solutions for housing units that could be placed in new rebuild communities that provide measurable improvements to long-term durability.

In all, 141 students and faculty from 30 colleges and universities (both national and international) registered for the competition, and a total of 56 entries were received from six different colleges and universities including Alfred State College, University of Maryland, University of Utah, Howard University, University of Miami, and WAPB - Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Bialyastok, Poland.

All entries were judged by a four person panel including Jim Baty, Technical Director of TCA, Ed Sauter, Executive Director of TCA and practicing architect, R. Glen Stephens, Principal of Stephens Architectural Associates, and Alan Wilson, a registered architect and vice president at The Haskell Company. The following criteria were used to evaluate the submittals:

• Creative use of the design concept in overall solution,
• Application of the Tilt-Up construction method, and
• Appropriateness of response in the context.