A vacant block of land with views of the ocean and Lake Macquarie in Dudley will be used for a design competition that the council hopes can spur innovation in the local housing sector.
The dWELL contest, a competition aimed at both industry professionals and tertiary students featuring $40,000 in prize-money, was launched by Lake Macquarie City Council on Tuesday.
Entrants have to design a new style of home for the Ocean Street lot with wellness, innovation, affordability and sustainability in mind.
David Antcliff, the council's property and business development manager, said with 13,500 new homes expected to be built in Lake Macquarie over the next 16 years, and with the recent launch of the council's housing strategy that promotes higher-density developments, housing options and styles needed re-thinking.
"We want to give a platform to the ideas that have been bubbling around in the back of designers' heads," he said.
"All too often, a client's brief is very specific about what they want to achieve, how a building will look or how it will perform, and this thinking generally comes from the past.
"We want to give creative professionals and students some freedom to design homes of the future that are focused on making people's lives better."
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The council hopes to attract national interest in the competition, which features two categories: one for professionals and the other for teams comprising at least one university student.
"We want to work with the best and brightest innovators in property development, design, technology and other industry sectors," director organisational services Laura Kendall said.
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"This competition will demonstrate how homes for tomorrow can be built today, without a premium price tag."
Entrants will submit an expression of interest of their intended design.
A judging panel will then select multiple entries to share in a $10,000 prize pool and make more detailed submissions.
The ultimate winners will share the remaining $30,000.
Mr Antcliff said the council would consider building the winning design on the prime hilltop site to serve as an example of next-generation urban housing.
The judges include UON's head of architecture Chris Tucker, The Block 2014 contestants Maxine and Karstan Smith and leaders from the UDIA and Planning Institute of Australia.
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