And the winners are…

The rewards of architectural competitions can be outstanding. The heat of a contest can heighten creativity and improve a client’s choice of design solutions.

Developer Urban Splash has been running competitions for nine years, and more than 500 architects and designers have taken part. It runs around six competitions a year, most of them through the RIBA.

For the developer, competitions are a cost-effective way of seeking out fresh talent and new ideas that they may not otherwise have found. What has Urban Splash learned from its experience? Tom Bloxham, chairman and co-founder of the company, says: “Competitions are often a difficult process. It’s never easy to pick a winner and be sure that you’ve picked the right one but the more help and objectivity we employ, the more likely we are to get the best results and the results are what really matter.

“Despite having considerable knowledge about running competitions and procurement generally within Urban Splash, we have found using an external agency like the RIBA gives the competition process an outside objectivity, an independent and experienced chair, helps create publicity for the competition and undertakes a lot of the donkey work, albeit at a modest cost.”

Nick Johnson, deputy chief executive, adds: “We’ve been constantly pushed out of our comfort zone, the result of which are some amazing schemes. It has also enabled us to help launch the careers of young up-and-coming architects, and work with practices we may not have heard of otherwise.”

The competition winners

Timber Wharf, Castlefield, Manchester

Timber Wharf was Urban Splash’s first competition launched in 1999 and its first development built from scratch.

The competition sought to create a new housing type capable of mass production, using modern building techniques at a realistic budget and challenging pre-conceived volume housebuilding. Nearly 200 entries were received. Glenn Howells Architects was selected as first prize. Its site layout was simple with a refined integration of elegant landscape and a good contextual relationship to the adjacent buildings.

Guest Street, New Islington, Manchester

Architect DeMetz Forbes Knight was selected through competitive interview as the winning team for the second phase of social housing at New Islington, known as Guest Street, 14 eco-homes with green roofs.

Tenant consultation helped to shape the design to suit the needs of occupants who also chose their new address, Guest Street. Residents moved into the properties in January 2007.

The project is being heralded as a model for prime minister Gordon Brown’s drive for better housing and was shortlisted for the Housing Design Awards 2007.

Morecambe Seafront

Following an open international competition FLACQ was selected to redevelop Morecambe’s central promenade area.

The judges chose FLACQ because its design clearly recognised and responded to the natural beauty of the bay and delivers a robust framework for the regeneration of the 10 acre site while respecting the context of the Midland Hotel and buildings such as the Winter Gardens.

Before the final interviews, Urban Splash exhibited the finalists’ entries in Morecambe and more than 1,000 people attended, with 300 comment sheets filled in.

“The standard of the entries and the final interviews were very high,” said Ken Shuttleworth, RIBA architectural adviser.