The jury hailed the work as a successful combination of a powerful concept and a convincing design.
The brief for the site at Duin, Almere, was to design an unusual and unique reusable building, to be used initially as an eye-catching information centre or cultural pavilion, and then stripped down and rebuilt as a freestanding house in the woods.
Shabaev relates how he sought with his design "to resolve the conflict between a striking pavilion and a relatively small private residence". His remarkable solution is a patio home capable of rotating through 90 degrees to reveal a stage for performances and presentations; a quite outstanding result in the view of Amvest. "Shabaev's apparently plain design is beautiful in its simplicity, and yet it allows this extraordinary metamorphosis in both image and function", said Maarten Janssen and Tom Lankhorst.
Europan is a European ideas competition for young urban designers and architects. Europan is a biennial competition involving around twenty European countries. These countries make sites available for young designers to draw up designs. Almere, Amsterdam, Cappelle aan den IJssel, Deventer, Eindhoven and Leeuwarden all made sites available for Europan Nederland 2011. One of the Europan objectives is to award a design contract to the first prize winners.
A total of 41 designs were submitted for the "Duin" location. The jury awarded second prize to Olaf Janson (NL b. 1980), Joost Maatkamp (NL b. 1980), Rens Wijnakker (NL b. 1984) and Koen Looman (NL b. 1980) for their design ENVISIONING BAUCIS. Je Ahn (UK b. 1983) and Maria Smith (UK b. 1982) received a special mention for their design HET HUIS BEIAARD.
David Domínguez Fuster (ES b. 1981) and Christian Sintes Midmore (ES b. 1980) also received a special mention for their design NATURAL HISTORY.