Desert Rose blooms in Dubai

A team of university students from the University of Wollongong (UOW) and TAFE NSW has defeated 13 other teams to take home the runner-up award in the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 - an international design and construction competition that focuses on sustainability.

The Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 was held in Dubai in late November 2018, where 15 teams from 11 countries have designed and built sustainable homes that compete across 10 contests, from architecture to sustainability, with the added challenge of coming up with a design that is functional and suited to the desert heat.

A team from Virginia Tech took out first place with its FutureHAUS Dubai concept which explores the process of prefabrication to deliver modular structures that integrate smart technologies, energy efficient systems and new materials.

The idea of team UOW – TAFE NSW’s ‘Desert Rose’ house is to support people living with dementia and other age-related conditions. It was named after the flower that flourishes in challenging environments, and like its name, is built to withstand the desert heat.

The house features innovative heating, ventilation and an air-conditioning system that uses solar cooling technology and leverages the benefits of passive design (design that takes advantage of the climate to maintain a comfortable temperature range in the home). As a result, it produces more energy than it uses.

Over two years, team UOW – TAFE NSW which comprises of 40 students came up with the design, made a prototype and built the house at the TAFE NSW Illawarra campus.

For the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018, students disassembled the house, shipped it in parts to Dubai and reconstructed it over a 10-day period.

‘Desert Rose’ Project Manager and UOW PhD student, Clayton McDowell, said while the result of the competition was amazing and the team was euphoric, he was proud of the legacy the team and the house will leave.

“The only trophy that matters is the house itself,” he said.

“I don’t need a trophy to tell us that we’ve done a good job. We’ve already toured thousands of public members through and they’ve all been our judge.

“We’ve created innovative solutions that we hope will revolutionise the way we design and build homes that celebrate life, support wellbeing for people as they age, and provide practical solutions for one of society’s great challenges of an ageing population.”

UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings CBE, said the win was a stunning testament to the team’s vision, hard work and willingness to take on monumental challenges.

“For the Desert Rose to be considered one of the world’s best examples of innovation in sustainable design as well as including features that look over the horizon to address the growing challenge of an ageing population is an achievement of a magnitude and importance that will grow with time,” he said.

“To step back and consider this was created by the hands, hearts and minds of a team of dedicated students and their academic and trades mentors is simply remarkable.”

Following the competition, the house has been flown back to Australia where it will be rebuilt and put on display at UOW’s Innovation Campus.