Beacon

A design and build competition is not a cheap undertaking.  Failure to budget and secure adequate funding has the potential to stop the project in its tracks.  However, with smart partnering, you can reduce the direct costs of the project.

Key elements to be funded

The levels of funding required will vary with the overall size and the complexity of the project.  However, the following list provides some of the key elements which will need funding:

• Project management of the main competition process.
• Production and design of the competition brief.
• Marketing and communications (including a web presence and published material).
• Collation of competition site details (including maps, land information, geotechnical information.
• Judging costs (including accommodation, food and travel as well as any direct judges’ expenses).
• Public exhibition costs for finalists or wider participants.
• Competition prize pool including runners up prizes.
• Legal fees, consenting costs (though some of this can be taken in-house for local authorities).
• Construction and development costs (depending on the competition set-up).
• Evaluation costs - to measure that the competition has achieved its desired outcomes and has been a success.

Budget

The budget will depend on the scale of your competition and the overall prize pool you deem appropriate.  Putting some estimates into a spreadsheet right at the outset can assist you to understand how much you will need to support the various aspects of your competition.  An example budget for you to work on is available below. In this spreadsheet you will note 2 columns that identify best case and worst case scenarios - this should provide a good range of funding to aim for.

Organisations such as the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) often provide advice on recommended prize money levels based on the amount of effort expected of entrants.

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  17-Jun-2014 (Publication )

  Example Budget for Design and Build Competition (Excel 32KB)

  An example of a budget for a design and build competition, based on the budget used for Breathe.

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  17-Jun-2014 (Publication )

  Example Memorandum of Understanding (Word 88KB)

  An example of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as used in the Breathe competition.

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  13-Aug-2012 (Publication )

  Breathe Sample Sponsorship Proposal (PDF 84KB)

  Sample sponsorship proposal from the Breathe design and build competition.