Hundreds of children participate in Goodwoof's Junior Barkitecture competition with Kevin McCloud

It's not just adult architects who were able to take part in the Barkitecture competition at Goodwoof this year. Children aged between 4 and 12 years old were tasked with designing a new kennel as part of our Junior Barkitecture Competition presented by Mastercard.

The competition was judged by British designer and television presenter, best known for the Channel 4 series, 'Grand Designs', Kevin McCloud, who said that choosing one winner from such a strong, well thought out group of 200+ submissions from over 45 local schools was truly difficult.

"The children's designs really gave the professional architects a run for their money. I was surprised by the inventiveness and loved the sheer joy and love of dogs that each of these designs embodies. Just glorious!"

The winner of the competition, Florence, was thrilled when she heard about her success in the competition. "Wow! It's amazing. I can't believe that I won and that my kennel is actually going to be made. I'm so excited to see it". Florence's attention to detail and thought regarding the materials used to build her kennel design meant she was a worthy winner.

As part of the competition prize, Florence's kennel was built to scale and sat on proud display on the Barkitecture stand at Goodwoof in May, along with the chance of meeting Kevin McCloud. The kennel has been since passed onto Florence's school where it's placed in the school reception for all children and four-legged friends to enjoy.

Florence also won a £500 cash donation for her school, Bedales Prep in Petersfield. Mark Hales, Teacher of Design at Bedales Prep, said the donation will be used towards a new piece of equipment in their Design Barn for Florence and all the other pupils to use.

We look forward to seeing what designs will be on offer at the Barkitecture stand next summer.