Dezeen has teamed up with Forbo Flooring to challenge architects and designers to create an interior space that promotes wellbeing using the brand's Marmoleum material.

The Marmoleum Design Challenge tasks entrants with creating a small space within a space that can provide respite and enhance wellbeing in environments such as schools, offices or hospitals – anywhere where you can play, learn, work or heal.

The competition is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18 working in or studying architecture or design, from any country around the world.

The challenge is open for entries until 30 April 2024. A shortlist of the best ideas will be published on Dezeen in May with the final result announced in June.

The winner will receive a £5,000 cash prize, as well as having their design realised in collaboration with Forbo Flooring and exhibited in the brand's showroom in the Netherlands.

The winner will also be invited to attend the launch event in the Netherlands, with the opportunity to meet members of the jury and Forbo Flooring.

Full details of how to enter the challenge can be found in the competition brief and rules.

Entrants challenged to make use of Forbo Flooring's Marmoleum material

Entrants are tasked with designing a 10-square-metre space that can enhance wellbeing by providing a space for relaxation and rejuvenation.

The space should be designed for installation in interior environments such as hospitals, schools or offices. Residential applications are excluded.

Entrants must use Marmoleum as flooring and the design should be realistic and feasible to construct.

Marmoleum is a linoleum flooring product by Forbo Flooring that is crafted from natural raw materials, including linseed oil extracted from flax plant seeds, wood flour, limestone, pine resin and jute plant fibres.

As a result, it is climate-positive from cradle to gate, without any offsetting. This means that the carbon dioxide absorbed by the biobased materials used to make the product is greater than the carbon dioxide emitted by manufacturing it.

To learn more about Marmoleum, entrants can watch a webinar led by Forbo Flooring's design team. The webinar features a product deep dive into the Marmoleum material and its applications, followed by a question-and-answer session to help contestants with their design.

Watch the webinar here ›
Download the accompanying presentation here ›

Entries to be judged by Ilse Crawford among other leading designers

Competition entries will be judged by an expert panel comprising Dezeen editors and design professionals, including interior designer Ilse Crawford, HOK senior interior designer Christine Vandover and Studiopepe co-founders Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto.

The panel will be joined by Dezeen editorial director Max Fraser and Forbo Flooring linoleum senior designer Tamar Gaylord.

Judges will be looking for innovative but buildable ideas for a wellbeing space. Entries will be judged against the following criteria:

› Strength of the overall idea
› Aesthetics
› Functionality and practicality
› Originality
› Positive impact on the user's wellbeing
› Use of Marmoleum
› Positive environmental impact

Competition closes for entries on 30 April

The Marmoleum Design Challenge closes for entries at 23:59 CEST (Central European Summer Time) on 30 April 2024.

A shortlist of the best ideas will be published on Dezeen in May, with the winner announced and published on Dezeen in June 2024.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £5,000 and have their design realised in collaboration with Forbo and installed in the Forbo Flooring showroom in the Netherlands.

The winner (one representative only) will also be invited to attend a launch event in the Netherlands.

For more information about how to enter, including the full brief and rules, visit www.dezeen.com/forbo-flooring-marmoleum-design-challenge.

Partnership content

The Marmoleum Design Challenge is a partnership between Dezeen and Forbo Flooring. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.