Surf’s Up! | Safe Trestles Competition

Architecture for Humanity has just launched Safe Trestles, an open design competition to create a safe and low-impact access to the legendary surf spot in San Onofre, California. Currently, up to 100, 000 people each year have to cross over an active railroad and pass through wetlands on improvised paths, presenting a serious safety hazard with passing trains and threatening the fragile ecosystem of the site.

In response, AFH is scouting for cohesive designs that eliminate the danger of crossing active train tracks, help to restore wetlands that have been damaged by the present path, preserve and improve vistas, and offer education about the history of the site and the beach marsh environment. The open-to-all, two-stage design competition aims to create a safe pathway to serve surfers, the local coastal community and day visitors to San Onofre State Beach.

Entry is $20 and there are two categories; Pro for teams of professionals designers/environmental scientists/landscape architect and Amateur for the rest of us. The competition jury currently includes pro surfers, local community members, world renowned architect Bjarke Ingels, Urban planner and recent Colbert Report interviewee Mitchell Joachim and co-founder of the Omidyar Network and avid surfer Pam Omidyar.

5 stage one finalists will be awarded $2K to revise designs and the overall winner will be awarded a design contract to develop their solution. All proceeds will be divided between Surfrider Foundation, San Onofre Foundation and Architecture for Humanity.