How to win

If you choose to enter Europan 10, make sure that you take these tips on board.

Create a multi-disciplinary team

Experience from Europan 8 has shown that the teams that did well were the teams that had a wide range of design and construction professionals on board: architects, urban designers, structural engineers, quantity surveyors, environmental engineers, landscape architects, interior designers etc.

Make use of the resources available

This website includes links to best practice publications and documents which entrants should refer to when working up their ideas. Resources include: CABE publications, other best practice guidance and relevant UK planning policy.

Respond to all elements of the brief

A successful entry will address both the urban situation of the site and the architectural issues of the brief.

Urban

• Issues such as permeability and ease of movement must be carefully considered
• Car parking also needs to be carefully understood in terms of its impact on urban layout, street scene and security
• If you are proposing open space think how this will be managed and maintained.

Architectural

• Judges need to see reasonably detailed housing layouts to allow an understanding of how the units can be occupied - indicate locations of walls / doors/windows/WCs etc.
• Environmental design responses should be integrated into the proposal and not merely be an add-on.

Design an inspiring and deliverable scheme

Entrants need to come up with ideas that are inspiring and innovative, but must also be mindful of the commercial realities of delivering their proposals.

Present your ideas clearly and effectively

The jury has very limited time in which to understand and assess the merits of each entry. If you want your ideas to really stand out and have a chance of winning, your key design concepts need to be communicated imaginatively, succinctly and very clearly. See our tips on layout for further guidance.