High school students competed for projects with the best lighting

Brno – In Brno, the best high school projects for houses with sufficient natural light and fresh air have been announced for the fifteenth time. The King of Daylight competition is organized by VELUX Czech Republic, and this year a record number of 251 high school students from 21 secondary industrial construction schools across the Czech Republic participated.

The purpose of the competition is to teach the youngest generation to design buildings that are well-lit, easily ventilated, and pleasant to live in. Designs are awarded for houses where daylight and fresh air enter the building from the roof through roof windows, skylights, or light tubes. The main criteria are architectural quality, spatial solutions, and energy efficiency concerning the indoor environment. There are traditionally two categories: Family house on designated land and Freestyle – any type of building.

In the more prestigious and better-represented category of family houses, this year the winner was Ondřej Bradávka from SPŠS Opava with a design for a family house that gradually rises along a sloping terrain. The freestyle category was dominated by Ondřej Šumpich from SŠ stavební Třebíč, who designed a multifunctional café with a terrace.
In both categories, an additional nine works were awarded. Prizes were also given to the teachers/supervisors of successful students and four schools with the highest number of enrolled participants. In total, VELUX Czech Republic distributed rewards exceeding 130,000 crowns in this year’s competition.

Applause not only from the judges

This year, 87 of the best works reached the finals, and their high level sometimes surprised even the experienced architects on the jury. "This was my first experience with this competition, and I was surprised by the quality of the works, some of which were at a professional level," praised high school students Jan Kristek, the dean of the Faculty of Architecture at VUT Brno. "I want to say to those who did not win that what matters is what you take away from the competition. Sometimes it's necessary to try something and perhaps even fail; the experience is more valuable for that. Keep trying. For those who want, I offer consultation directly at the dean's office," Kristek told the students.

Consultations were also offered to students by another jury member, Jan Hlavín from the Institute of Construction at ČVUT Prague. "Many works were thoroughly processed from a construction standpoint, and some additionally had the bonus of artistic value. The result was architecture that combines basic construction with fine arts. That is precisely why we like the construction," said architect Hlavín about the competition designs and urged students not to hesitate to consult artistic questions and spatial or lighting solutions with experts from universities.

The third jury member was Klára Bukolská, the chief architect of VELUX Czech Republic. As the competition has long been evaluated, she could compare individual years and the development of submitted works. "You are applying in larger numbers year after year, and I must say the works are always a little better," she stated, sending a message to young people: "Construction is not a digital world that disappears shortly; it stays with us for decades. Therefore, I hope you will remain in construction and create a better and more beautiful environment in which we all live."

The finalists of the King of Daylight competition were also greeted by Dagmar Plevačová, the general director of VELUX for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. "We are very glad that we can provide young talents with this opportunity. Therefore, thank you all for your effort, energy, time, and creativity that you contribute to the competition every year, both you students and you professors. Every year, I observe improvements in both quantity and quality, and I must say that even the works that did not win this year were amazing," emphasized Dagmar Plevačová and congratulated all finalists.

King of Daylight 2019 - results

Family house on designated land

I. prize in the category Family house on designated land
Ondřej Bradávka, SPŠ stavební Opava, supervisor: Ing. arch. Tomáš Fischer


The jury appreciated the originality of the design, which sought responses to the given location on the sloping terrain. "From these responses emerged solutions for layouts, interiors, and the relationship between the upper floor and the lower one. I most appreciate the independence of the work and the search process, which I believe is the most important thing that architecture students should achieve. The floor plan is not a standard that can be seen in a catalog; it comes from working with the terrain situation. Although it is an original solution, everything operates functionally and visually. The project may seem unusual to someone, but that is usually a sign of a solution that pushes thinking further," said Jan Kristek about the winning design.

"The shape of the building arises from my intention to bring eastern light into the house. Hence the bumps that create a gradation of space," described his design idea Ondřej Bradávka, who assessed his participation in the competition as an excellent experience: "This was my first competition, and it gave me the chance to work with light in the interior. I tried the Daylight Visualizer program, and I also enjoyed working with VELUX products. I am considering studying architecture, but my priority at the moment is to finish my third year of high school."

II. prize in the category Family house on designated land
Robin Vitásek, SPŠ stavební Opava, supervisor: Ing. arch. Tomáš Fischer


The jury appreciated the simplicity of the building with a clear layout, which is enhanced by the positioning of two structures in a V shape to each other. This creates interesting spaces in the interior and exterior, with closure from the outside and openness to the courtyard area adding quality to the living space. The jury also praised the handling of light in the single-story structure, as the house receives daylight at all times of the day.

Prizes in the category Family house on designated land
Marius Caminschi, VOŠ and SPŠ Stavební Dušní, Prague, supervisor: Ing. Katerina Mestková
Ondřej Kuba, SPŠ stavební Opava, supervisor: Ing. arch. Tomáš Fischer
Pavel Zámečník, SPŠ stavební Hradec Králové, supervisor: Ing. Iva Burianová
Filip Zatloukal, SPŠ stavební Brno, supervisor: Ing. Darek Skříček

Freestyle — any type of building

I. prize in the category Freestyle - any type of building
Ondřej Šumpich, SŠ stavební Třebíč, supervisor: Ing. arch. Petra Beránková


The proposal for the Café Art café with a terrace, exhibition space, and connection to the garden impressed the jury with its professional solution. "It is a very small structure, but in a small space, the author creates an interesting scenographic experience, both through the movement of a person through the pavilion and via light brought from above. We appreciated the very interesting work with space and the professional, mature approach," evaluated Jan Hlavín's work.

II. prize in the category Freestyle - any type of building
Sandra Skřivánková, SŠ stavební Třebíč, supervisor: Ing. arch. Petra Beránková


The judges appreciated the proposal that could be implemented with minimal costs, which would revitalize the urban area in an interesting way. The project for utilizing a neglected gap includes an outdoor cinema and a bar, leveraging the rooftop view of the river and creatively using skylights to bring light from above.

III. prize in the category Freestyle - any type of building
Hana Němcová, SPŠ stavební Brno, supervisor: Ing. Ondřej Lyčka


In the proposal for a kindergarten, the jury appreciated the quality handling of volumes, the clear layout, and the nice connection with the outdoor environment. The work effectively utilizes natural light entering the interior from all sides.

Prizes in the category Freestyle - any type of building
Matyáš Černík, SPŠ stavební Opava, supervisor: Ing. arch. Tomáš Fischer
Jan Štangl, SPŠ stavební Brno, supervisor: Ing. Ondřej Lyčka

Awards for schools

For the first time, secondary schools with the highest number of submitted works were honored. Students from SPŠ stavební akademika Stanislava Bechyně in Havlíčkův Brod and SPŠ stavební Havířov submitted more than 20 works. Students from SPŠ stavební Brno and SPŠ stavební Opava submitted more than 35 works.

Teachers from both the most active schools agreed that the King of Daylight competition is a great benefit for students.

"Students really enjoy working with visualization programs, designing interiors and lighting. And it's a great experience for them when they can consult their works with someone other than their teachers," said Professor Jana Leischnerová from SPŠ stavební Brno at the announcement. She also praised the educational workshops that VELUX regularly hosts for high school students. "For the last two years, all our third-year students focusing on civil engineering and reconstruction have participated in the workshop, and they regularly rate it as the best extracurricular educational event. They get to try installing a roof window, have a theoretical lecture on daylighting, and it ends with a project that gets evaluated by architects from VELUX. They really enjoy it and take a lot away from it," said Jana Leischnerová.

"The King of Daylight competition gives students the opportunity to try something that they would not normally experience at a construction secondary school. It is more thorough work focused not just on the construction aspect because it also addresses architecture, daylighting, and the manipulation of space. It simultaneously gives them a chance to confront themselves with peers of the same age or students studying the same elsewhere, so they can easily find out how they measure up. And I have to say that students are getting more and more skilled and are able to use new technologies that are constantly emerging," stated Tomáš Fischer from SPŠ stavební Opava. He also highly praised the quality of the competition itself: "Other construction companies also hold student competitions, and we participate in almost all of them. But the competition organized by VELUX places greater emphasis on architecture, making it a more interesting and thereby more attractive undertaking for students. Moreover, a highly competent jury always gathers here, and it is very valuable for high school students when they receive feedback from someone from practice or perhaps even from a faculty dean."