Off the Grid
Description
Participants conduct research on a sustainable architectural design for a home in a country of the team's choosing (according to theme requirements for the year), and document their findings in a display and a model. The model can be of the home designed by the team, or of a specific aspect of their design. Semifinalist teams give a presentation and are interviewed about their design.
2026-27 Design Brief: Resilient Housing Unit in Cabo San Lucas
Overview:
A family of six lives in an informal settlement, or colonia, on the outskirts of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The family consists of two parents, one grandparent and three children.
Their current home is self-built using salvaged materials such as scrap wood, corrugated metal, pallets, and tarps. The home is single-level and crowded, with limited privacy between generations. The family does not have reliable access to running water, sewage, electricity, drainage, or waste collection. Water is delivered by truck and stored in a small cistern, while electricity and sanitation systems are often improvised.
The region’s arid desert climate creates year-round challenges, including extreme heat, strong seasonal winds, and persistent dust. In addition, many informal settlements are located near arroyos, flood zones, or unstable terrain, placing families at serious risk during hurricanes and flash floods.
Challenge:
The family needs a safe, affordable, and resilient single-level housing unit that can support multi-generational living in an informal settlement in Cabo San Lucas. Your task is to design a housing solution that improves comfort, safety, dignity, and long-term livability while responding to the region’s climate, limited infrastructure, and economic realities.
Requirements:
• The housing unit must be single-level and designed for a multi-generational family.
• The design should include passive cooling, natural ventilation, and strategies to reduce heat and dust inside the home.
• The structure must be more resilient to hurricanes, strong winds, flash flooding, and unstable ground conditions.
• The home should include solutions for water collection, water storage, and water conservation.
• The design must address sanitation, drainage, and waste management in areas without reliable public infrastructure.
• The proposal should use affordable, durable, and locally available materials when possible.
• The home should be simple to build, repair, and maintain using realistic construction methods.
• The design should allow for incremental or phased construction so the family can improve the home over time.
• The layout should include flexible spaces for privacy, family gathering, sleeping, cooking, and daily activities.
• The design should be scalable so it could potentially be adapted for other families in similar communities.
Budget:
Your team has a limited budget equivalent to the income of a working family in Cabo San Lucas. The design should prioritize affordability, durability, and realistic implementation. The budget must account for building materials, water storage, basic sanitation, ventilation, flood protection.
Finn Hill MS, Team 3, 2026 1st Place
Event Resources
EVENT EXAMPLES
Click on the links to the right to view past entries for this event
Event Deadlines
January 21, 2027
Students will need their Participant ID number, and password, from their advisor. Only the team captain will be able to upload the file.
Students submit completed portfolio and images/sketches of display and model. Maximum of 2 pdf files.
April 2027
Students will submit their final portfolio, display and model. They will set up their display (CHECK DIMENSIONS!)
Semifinalist list will be posted on Friday afternoon. Semifinalists will give a presentation to judges on Friday afternoon/evening.
Washington TSA Rules
To compete, students must:
Belong to a currently affiliated TSA chapter
Be registered (by their TSA advisor) for competition by December 18, 2026 ($35)
Compete in the January 21, 2027 virtual competition (see individual event pages for details)
Be selected as a top competitor in their event(s) and invited to participate at State
Number of competitors is dependent on specific event
Qualifying competitor lists will be published by February 7, 2027
State Conference registration week February 22-26, 2027 (see state conference page for details)
