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Competition conditions

Eligibility, honorarium and post competition commitment

The competition is open to multi-disciplinary design teams who must be led by a practising, registered architect or landscape architect.  Inter-discipline collaboration is actively expected and other team members might include the services of a transport planner, highways engineer.  The realised scheme will also need to include a clear public art focus.  On appointment, the winning lead designer will be expected to arrange for Professional Indemnity Insurance cover of GBP £2m (as a minimum), and it is anticipated that this designer will appoint all sub-consultants.  The winning designer will be required to work with an engineering contractor (to be appointed separately) to develop and deliver the scheme.

The competition will follow a two-stage ppen design format.  Each team short-listed to the second stage of the competition (up to five) will receive an honorarium payment of £5,400 (+VAT) as a contribution towards the expense of preparing their design submission material and attending a final interview/presentation with the judging panel.  The Winner’s honorarium will represent an advance on the professional fee for the subsequent commission.  The promoter undertakes to pay the honoraria within one calendar month of the conclusion of the competition.  Invoices for the honorarium payments should be submitted to the RIBA competitions office. 

No member or employee of the promoting body, nor the assessors, nor any partner, close associate or employee of them shall be eligible to compete or assist a competitor.

The judging panel will identify a preferred scheme which will be subject to endorsement by the Cabinet of Maidstone Borough Council.  The winning designer will then be invited to enter into fee negotiations with Maidstone Borough Council.  However, if a fee and scope of services can not be agreed within a reasonable timescale, Maidstone Borough Council reserves the right not to proceed beyond the competition stage or to enter into contract negotiations with the team placed second by the judging panel.

A secured funding strategy for the High Street International Design Competition is in place.  Subject to obtaining planning permission which is acceptable to the promoter etc, the intention is to commission the winning design team to develop and implement their design proposal.  Where necessary, the promoter reserves the right to supplement the expertise of the winning design team to ensure deliverability of the project.  However, in the event that no scheme meets the requirements set out in this competition brief, the promoter reserves the right not to proceed beyond the competition stage.


Stage 1 submission requirements

  • 2 x A3, lightweight foam boards depicting the design proposal, approach, proposed palette of materials etc.
  • A bound accompanying design statement (maximum of 2 x A4 single-sided pages, 12pt Arial typeface), together with a preliminary appraisal of the financial viability of the proposal and how it could be delivered within the stated GBP £4m budget (1 x single-sided A4 page, 12pt Arial typeface).  
  • A CD-ROM containing electronic copies of the A3 Design Boards (PDF format) and the design/financial viability statements (Word format).  The PDF’s of the design boards should be <<1Mb in size, since they may be subsequently uploaded to Maidstone Borough Council’s web site.  The CD-ROM should also contain publicity images (up to 3) for use in the printed and electronic media.  These should be submitted in JPEG format, with low (72dpi) and high (300dpi) resolution versions of each image.
  • A hard copy of the duly completed Declaration Form, which should be placed in a sealed envelope and marked ‘Declaration Form’.
  • A hard copy of the duly completed Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, which should be placed in a sealed envelope and marked ‘Pre-Qualification Questionnaire’.
  • Architectural models will not be accepted, although images of models used to develop the design proposal may be included on the A1 design boards.


Stage 1 evaluation criteria

The Stage 1 design proposals will be assessed against the following criteria (in order of importance, with most important listed first):

  • Overall design quality.
  • Response to overall project objectives, site context, design principles/constraints and consideration of public art elements.
  • Palette of materials and long-term maintenance considerations.
  • Technical and financial viability.
  • Communication of ideas.


Submission method

Each Stage 1 entry should be submitted in a single package and sent, carriage paid, addressed to:

Maidstone High Street Competition
c/o RIBA Competitions Office
6 Melbourne Street
Leeds
LS2 7PS

Overseas Competitors should note that for Customs purposes no commercial value should be assigned to the design submission.  If a commercial value is given this may result in your submission being delayed and/or returned to you unopened, as the RIBA will not be liable for any Customs charges otherwise incurred.

Your submission should arrive no later than 2.00pm on Thursday, March 5 2009.  Late submissions will not be accepted and it will not be possible to submit entries via e-mail.  UK Competitors should note that First Class post does not necessarily guarantee next-day delivery and should plan their submission schedule accordingly.

Competitors requiring proof of delivery should enclose in their submission package a stamped, sealed envelope bearing the name and address of a nominated Third Party (other than the competition entrant in order to maintain anonymity) to receive the proof of delivery.  Please also refer to the Anonymity section below.

Competitors are advised to retain copies of all design material submitted.  Whilst the Promoter and the RIBA Competitions Office will exercise all reasonable care, they will not be liable for loss or damage to the submission material that may occur either in transit, during exhibition, storage or packing.


Anonymity

All Stage 1 submissions will be judged anonymously.  Any submission that has identifying marks (including logos, text, insignia, or images that could be used to identify the submission’s author) will be automatically disqualified.  The submission should be accompanied by the duly completed Declaration Form (issued on Registration) and placed in a sealed enveloped marked ‘Declaration Form’.  The RIBA will place an identifying number on each element of the design submission and on the outside of the envelopes containing the Declaration Form and duly completed Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.  The envelopes will only be opened once the Judging Panel has identified the preferred schemes.

Each short-listed Competitor must be able to satisfy the competition organisers that the submitted design is an original piece of work and that he/she is the bona fide author of the design he/she has submitted.


Disqualification

Submissions shall be excluded from the competition:

  • If received after the latest time stated under the Submission Method.
  • If, in the opinion of the Judging Panel, it does not fulfill the requirements of the Competition Design Brief.
  • If a Competitor shall disclose his or her identity, or improperly attempt to influence the decision.
  • If any of the requirements of the Competition Brief and Conditions are disregarded.


Stage 2

The Judging Panel will nominate the schemes (up to five, plus two reserves) which they consider to be the most successful initial response to the Brief.  Anonymity will then be lifted, and the Pre-Qualification Questionnaires submitted by the five teams reviewed to ensure that they satisfy the requirements of Maidstone Borough Council’s standing orders.  Subject to the requirements being met, the short-listed teams will then be invited to proceed to the Second Stage of the Competition.  The shortlist will be issued with feedback from the Stage 1 assessment and expected to attend a group site visit/briefing day to assist the development of their design proposals.  Further details of the Stage 2 submission requirements will be issued, but the design material is expected to comprise:

  • 2x A1 light-weight foam boards illustrating the developed design proposal.
  • Supporting design statement and details of key team members and other proposed consultants.
  • Elemental cost breakdown.
  • Indicative fee proposal.

Members of the public and interested parties will be invited to comment on the design proposals which will be subject to display.  Themes arising from the exhibition will be collated and made available to the Judging Panel to help inform their decision.

 

Stage 2 award criteria and selection of preferred scheme

The revised schemes submitted by the short-listed teams at Stage 2 will be evaluated using the same methodology as at Stage 1.  The Judging Panel will, in addition, consider the strength of each team and their ability to deliver the scheme in selecting the preferred scheme.   

Selection of the preferred scheme will be made following presentation of the design proposals at final interview.  As well as enabling the Panel to assess the viability of the design proposals, the interviews will provide an opportunity for the designers to demonstrate their team’s ability to deliver a scheme of this nature.  The Judging Panel will identify a preferred scheme which will be subject to endorsement by the Cabinet of Maidstone Borough Council.  It is anticipated that the preferred scheme will be presented to Cabinet in May 2009.  Entrants should note that they will be expected to honour a confidentiality agreement to prevent information on the winning design being leaked to the Press before any official announcement is made.