Two aspiring architects from Universiti Teknologi Brunei’s (UTB) School of Design were recently awarded for their Bakers & Books concept, which will be used in the final scheme for the new library café at UTB.
Their winning entry, prioritising books and coffee within a cosy space, was part of the Conceptual Design competition co-hosted by UTB and Mr Baker’s Bakeshop, from August 17 to September 19.
Zayanah binti Zainal Abidin and Mohd Arrifin bin Morsidi, from the Architecture programme area, received the prize from Mr Baker’s Bakeshop founder Eric Pui Jeng Soon.
UTB Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman was among those who attended the presentation ceremony at the university’s Conference Room.
The competition drew several entries from UTB’s schools and faculties, with the designs based around Mr Baker’s given theme of space usage and user-friendliness.
UTB’s Library Cafe is expected to be opened to the public by January 2021.
Meanwhile, Mr Baker’s Bakeshop is offering a mentoring programme in the form of internship, where students will learn basic barista skills, customer service, inventory monitoring, food preparation and more. The café will also assist students from the Food & Science Technology programme area and the School of Applied Science and Mathematics (SASM), in the research and development of new products for their courses.
On June 22, Mr Baker’s Bakeshop and UTB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to develop academic and research collaborative efforts in equipping students with professional and industrial skills in multidisciplinary areas.
