Linda
Roberts and Louise Harrison run designed2win (d2w), a consultancy
focused on, amongst other things, helping Architects to maximise their chances
of success in the competition process. For many small and aspiring
practices, competitions can be a valuable method to gain exposure, win new work
and demonstrate specialist skills and innovation but unfortunately the market
place is full of such small, aspiring practices seeking to get ahead. Linda and Louise both have over 20 years
experience of organising architectural competitions which they gained when they
headed up the RIBA's competition office.
They are in a perfect position to help. Between them they have organised and attended
over 100 competition assessments – their clients include Guy’s & St Thomas’
Hospital, the Welsh Assembly, Urban Splash, BRE, as well as over 30 different
Local Authorities. Working with the
British Antarctic Survey, they also ran the competition for Halley VI, a
competition which is very close to my heart.
With
this experience, unique knowledge and insight Linda and Louise can advise how
you can stand out from the crowd. They have been working with young
practices, honing their skills in three key areas - open design
competitions, expressions of interest and competition interviews. Here
are some of their inside tips:
General advice
Be economical, precise and focused with your workload.
Examine the tone and requirements of the brief and analyse how your submission
should respond. This is one of the key areas d2w can help with.
Judging the brief is a tricky issue. How you interpret it can make or
break your submission chances.
How you relay this to your design responses is another fundamental
issue. Is there a novel approach that will help your proposals stand out
from the crowd? Will it back-fire? Nobody wants to spend long hours
on a submission to miss the mark, which is where d2w can help.
Open design competitions
How to detect key issues in the competition brief is
critical. Then, knowing how far to develop your responses is just as
important. When should your submission be prescriptive and detailed, and when
should it be loose and enigmatic? These are some key issues d2w examine
in their workshops.
Many
open competitions request presentation boards and a written document.
Knowing how to manage these to convey your ideas and messages effectively is
something they can help with. How you set out your work is vital. A combination of presentation techniques can help
to make your submission stand out. Linda
and Louise have attended countless assessments and have supported the judging
teams for hundreds of competitions and know how this can work.
Expressions of interest
A
key problem for small architectural practices is how to compete with the big
guns when company accounts and business size are assessed against your ability
to handle their projects. One method from my own experience for Halley VI
was to team up with a larger organisation as the lead consultant. For
projects of a technical nature requiring a multi-disciplinary approach this can
be effective. But this is only part of the solution - d2w
can advise how to convey this arrangement as a winning working relationship
which can capture the interest and enthusiasm of the client and
judges.
If
you have a set number of pages to express a design response, make sure they
tell your story effectively. d2w can advise on how to convey your message
in this process.
Competition interviews
Be prepared. Confidence is key, but to establish team
confidence, the preparation needs to be effective and thorough. Knowing
what not to take can be as important as knowing what to take. Selecting
team members and knowing how to interact in the interview environment is
critical. Being sharp and slick doesn’t come without the correct
practice, which is what d2w can advise on.
Summary
Overall, be economical with your work to hit the target as
efficiently and as effectively as possible. Don’t waste precious time.
This is just a taste of the areas Linda and Louise cover in their
workshops. If you need some expert help with your killer
competition submission, contact d2w.
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| To illustrate one point, Peter Cook's sketches for the Abedian School of Architecture competition proved to be a point of interest for the submission. He tells the story in his UCL lecture. |
