For 2021, you are not allowed to edit the home other than furnishings & Interior Finishes. No major manipulations of the inside or outside as the home is already built.
The canvas is yours, but remember part of the judges criteria is if you listened to the client. Part of these solutions will be the give & take of new elements vs. existing elements just like real world projects. Design with purpose!
We are expecting to receive well over 60 entries this year. This doesn't mean that it should discourage you to enter. If you feel overwhelmed, team up and come up with a project for a group a 4 or less. Our goal is that everyone can put together a solution and come to our class to compare and contrast how the finalists solved design vs. your own solution. Remember the top 8 designers will be ranked and put into print so even if you are not a finalist, you may have a good shot and being named one of the top designers in the country!
Go to the forum below and ask away. We will do our best to respond quickly and it could be a question that others have so do not be shy.
Although the name of the project is "The Million Dollar Pool Design Challenge", you are welcome to exceed $1 million dollars with the design as there will be no need to prepare costs. Keep in mind that the judges will be judging on practicality and if the construction could actually be achieved in a real life situation. Keep it somewhat reasonable.
Alex, thanks for the question and I do agree with you that there will need to be some thought put into the drainage solution for this job and overall topography. For the FFE, we want everyone to keep them where they currently are as the “project” is already under construction but you can still make some exterior changes that do not involve the foundation level changing. In the real life project, the walls were actually staged on a timeline so that we could get our machines down to the different levels. Hope this helps and we look forward to seeing your work!
In our design are we focusing on the pool/patio area or are we designing the entire site around the house (retaining walls, separate garage rear access walk, change grading to fit our design, etc.?
The site was unique in that you can really utilize 3 different options with how you attack it. 1. Use the upper kitchen area & driveway as the pool area. 2. Use the lower porch area below as the pool area. 3. Use a design that incorporates both spaces together. There is no right or wrong answer, just more so if your design meets the criteria that the clients were wanting. As far as drainage goes, please do not focus a lot of your time on the absolute perfect drainage plan. It needs to make sense and work with the existing grades, but the pool concept and layout is going to be a bigger factor than drainage solutions.