WAF's Student Charrette offers architecture students from around the world a unique opportunity to present their concepts live to WAF attendees and a panel of expert judges.

ABOUT THE STUDENT CHARRETTE

The WAF 2025 Student Charrette: Fun, Sun, Sea and Sand

The call for submissions for this year's Student Charrette are now open! This year's theme marks WAF 2025 taking place in Miami Beach. We're looking for student teams to design a visitor attraction, tourist facility, or building for a seaside or lakeside location of your choosing where people can enjoy themselves.

Entry deadline: 27 June 2025. See below for full submission details.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

• Design a visitor attraction, tourist facility, or building for a seaside/lakeside location of your choosing
• Brief project description including choice of site (max 350 words)
• Relevant images of any type relevant to the project (max 12)
• Shortlisted teams will be required to attend the Festival in Miami from 11-14 November 2025

THE PROCESS

What happens?

• Students from across the globe are invited to submit their proposals (for free) by Friday 27 June 2025
• Successful teams will be informed by the 25 July 2025. Up to eight teams will be invited to participate.
• All teams and their tutors will be provided with complimentary three-day festival passes
• Teams will need to make their own accommodation and travel arrangements to attend the Festival at Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, USA from the 12-14 November 2025.
• Teams will be given a final briefing in Miami, which will involve the addition of a new element in their project, on the evening of Tuesday 11 November (full details will provided to shortlisted entrants)

At the Festival in Miami

• Working areas for all teams will be provided in the Festival hall 
• Basic design materials (paper, marker pens etc) will be made available. You should bring your own laptops
• Teams will work on their proposals on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 November in the Festival Hall
• Presentations to an international jury will be made on Friday 14 November
• Presentations should be 10 minutes maximum, followed by 10 minutes of question and answers from the judges
• The panel will select a winning team, which will be invited to the Gala Awards Dinner on Friday night

Celebrating your involvement

• The winner will receive an invitation to the WAF Gala Awards Dinner on the evening of Friday 14 November, and be presented with their prize on-stage
• All teams will receive a certificate of attendance as finalists in the charrette
• Selected work will appear in the post-Festival online Winners Supplement and on the WAF website
  Should you have any questions, please contact us.

THE 2024 WINNERS

Staging Symbiosis: Seaweed+ by Queen's University Belfast

THE 2024 TEAMS

See who competed in last year's WAF Student Charrette competition!

We were thrilled to receive a high number of entries from student teams worldwide and the eight teams that attended WAF were:

• Queen's University Belfast, Ireland
• Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado, El Salvador
• University of Dundee, United Kingdom
• Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao, Philippines
• University of Northern Philippines, Philippines (Team One)
• University of Northern Philippines, Philippines (Team Two)
• Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao, Philippines
• University of the West of England, United Kingdom