The public have voted the Lazarus Snail Bench as the winner of the Benched 2.0 design-build competition.

Students Jean-Pierre Lucas and Nafiayah Rayner claimed the $500 top award after teaming up with Vanessa Daniel, of Geoff Parker Architect, to design their bench, and Vieira’s Construction & Painting to build the seat.

Announcing the awards in the contest, for high school and university students, the Institute of Bermuda Architects revealed that second place and $300 went to Moongate by Joanna Martin, who collaborated with Yanna Smith and Anthony Medeiros of Bermuda Stripping & Refinishing for construction.

Third prize of $200 was awarded to The Great White by Kevin Simmons, A’Maiah Butterfield and Clara James, who partnered with Claudia Richardson-Botelho of Botelho Wood Architects for design and E&G Craftshop and Signworx for the building work.

In the professional category, first prize of $500 went to Zoo, by Ayo-Oluwa Salawu, Zoë Oleksak and Tereé Trott, who collaborated with Germano Botelho of Botelho Wood Architects and J&W Construction.

Lazarus Snail Bench won second place in the professional category and The Great White came third.

More than 300 people cast their votes in the general category at an open voting session at the aquarium at the weekend. The professional category was judged by seven industry professionals and was based on design concept, creativity and use of materials.

Krystal Rodrigues, the president of the IBA, said: “We would like to congratulate the winners of Benched.

“All seven teams worked extremely hard and we are enthralled with the final benches that were designed and built. The designs are exceptionally creative and it is inspiring to see what the students came up with over the last month.

“We encourage the public to come and see the benches, which will be on display over the next six weeks.

“We would like to thank our sponsors as well as the designers and builders who provided professional guidance.”

The students who competed in Benched were Jean-Pierre Lucas, Nafiayah Rayner, Kevin Simmons, Clara James, A’Maiah Butterfield, Zoe Oleksak, Ayo-Oluwa Salawu, Tereé Trott, Liam Flannery, Chanika Jones, Christian Chin Gurret and Joanna Martin.

Firms who offered professional design support to the students include Bermuda Stripping & Refinishing, Botelho Wood Architects, Geoff Parker Architect, Nicky Gurret and OBMI.

Builders who assisted the students in developing their bench designs include Bermuda Stripping & Refinishing, Carvalho Construction, E&G Craftshop, J&W Construction, Vieira’s Construction & Painting, Bermuda Blueprinting and Bobby Degraff.

The judges were Ari Ming, Institute of Bermuda Architects; Kennedy Wainwright, Construction Association of Bermuda; Sue Bendell, Bermuda Society of Interior Designers; Victoria Pereira, Department of Planning; Stephanie Simons, Bermuda Association of Professional Engineers; Kenny Paltl and Ian Walker, Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, and artist Tina Hutchings. The sponsors were Joe Vieira Trucking, Pembroke Tile & Stone, Atlantic Building Consultants & Bermuda Interiors & Calabash Trucking & Crane Service.

The designs will be on display at the aquarium until August 31.