– ‘win signals the expertise the department possesses and the calibre of students in the programme’, dep’t head says

THE University of Guyana’s Architecture Department in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology (FET) has once again copped the first prize at the Fifth International Lekol Architectural Competition held in French Guiana from June 24 to 27, 2025.

The Trades and Qualifications Campus of Excellence in the field of Wood, Eco-construction and Ecotechnology of French Guiana, organised the international architectural competition for university students with the support of the Territorial Authority of French Guiana (CTG) and the State through the Regional Cooperation Fund (FCR). This year’s participants included the University of Guyana, Anton de Kom State University of Suriname and the Federal University of the State of Amapá, Brazil.

The goal of the annual competition is to enable students in the architectural sector to design an ecological and solidarity-based project that meets the environmental concerns of the decade. The aim of the competition is to encourage students’ ability to innovate in the field of architecture by offering local populations an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable alternative.

This year’s architectural project was a proposal for a convention centre to be placed on the campus of the University in French Guiana. The design needed to satisfy the best ratio between production cost and architectural efficiency, decarbonised construction, consider urban planning elements, volume and adaptability, functionality, site suitability, and cultural fitness.

The winning design was nature-inspired by the Cayenne Nightjar – a bird spotted only once in French Guiana in 1970. The building bio-mimicked the bird’s features in terms of colour, wings, flight dynamics, and anatomy. Total square footage was 19,000+ with 30 per cent allotted for green spaces.

The UG contingent comprised Head of the Architecture Department, Dr Anna Perreira; lecturer, Mr Kurt Gonsalves; and final-year BSc. Architecture students Ms Kiana Persaud, Mr Aditya Mohanlal, and Mr Denish Ramnarin. The department held an internal competition with final-year students, which saw an unprecedented 10 groups of three students each from both third and fourth years developing designs. From January to mid-May 2025, part-time lecturers Mr Godfrey Proctor and Mr Kurt Gonsalves guided the students during their design studio classes with the help of Dr Perreira to develop their designs. The winning team was selected via a jury comprising members of the Architecture Department’s faculty.

The final jury comprised Ms Jenny Sanchez (Vice Dean of Research & Outreach, Faculty of Arts, National University of Colombia, Bogotá Campus); Architect Ms Caroline Marie-Calixte (Agence Néor Architecture Guyane), who developed the design requirements for the competition; two other local architects; one civil engineer; the Chief of the University of French Guiana; and the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), France.

The second place of the Lekol Competition went to Brazil, with the third place going to Suriname.

Head of UG’s Architecture Department, Dr Anna Perreira, said: “I feel proud of the success the department has accomplished in this architectural competition as it signals the expertise the department possesses and the calibre of students in the programme. The opportunity to compete with other universities and win not only brings credibility to the department, but also to the University of Guyana.

“What is unique about how we prepare ourselves for this competition is that the entire cohort first competes internally amongst themselves to then identify the best proposal which will represent the university’s submission. The competing universities do not adopt this approach; however, it allows us equal opportunity for the students to prove and apply their knowledge and skills. As HoD, my aim is to continue enhancing the programme through such exposure to competition and academic application,” Dr Perreira said.

This is the second first-place win for Guyana since first competing in 2023. Last year, Guyana took home the first prize for sustainability in construction for its design of an engineering and architecture faculty for the UG campus by organisers of the competition.

The Department of Architecture expressed its appreciation to the lecturers and students who assisted team UG in successfully representing the University of Guyana, the organisers of the Lekol Architectural Competition and the French Ambassador to Guyana and Suriname, Mr Nicholas de Lacoste.

The students will be making a presentation of their project at this year’s departmental final-year dissertation presentations in the Engineering and Technology boardroom. (UG)

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Caption: From left to right: Students Kiana Persaud, Aditya Mohanall and Denish Ramnarin; France’s Ambassador to Guyana and Suriname Mr Nicholas de Lacoste, Head of Architecture Department Dr Anna Perreira and lecturer Mr Kurt Gonsalves