RIBA Competitions is the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

' unit dedicated to organising architectural and other design-related competitions.

Architectural design competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

s are used by an organisation that plans to build a new building or refurbish an existing building. They can be used for buildings, engineering work, structures, landscape design projects or public realm artworks. A competition typically asks for architects and/or designers to submit a design proposal in response to a given brief. The winning design will then be selected by an independent jury panel of design professionals and client representatives. The independence of the jury is vital to the fair conduct of a competition. The objective of a competition is to explore a range of different design options to select the best response to the design brief, which would not be possible by pre-selecting one architect. The competitions process is often used to generate new ideas, create blue-sky thinking, stimulate debate, raise the profile of the project and allow an opportunity for emerging talent to grow as well as established design practices.

History

In 1871 the RIBA appointed a special committee to draw up the first set of model rules and regulations for competitions. A Competitions Committee was set up in 1883 to monitor competitions and a revised version of the rules and regulations was published at this time. In 1967 the RIBA set up a Competitions Working Group who decided not just to monitor competitions but actively promote them and persuade clients to use them. From 1971 onwards a permanent Competitions Office was established at the RIBA. RIBA Competitions is the only organisation in the UK who has maintained a steady flow of competitions as part of the normal working environment and to have studied the competition system in depth.

Project list

RIBA Competitions has been responsible for delivering some of the most high-profile building projects in the UK and abroad through competition, such as:

Civic and Commercial

* Bourne Hill Council Offices, Salisbury * Cleopatra's Kiosk *

Gateway Plus The Gateway Plus (previously known as Birmingham Gatewayand now known as Grand Central) project was a redevelopment scheme that regenerated Birmingham New Street railway station and the Pallasades Shopping Centre above it in Birmingham, Englan ...

(previously known as "Birmingham Gateway") *

Manchester Civil Justice Centre Manchester Civil Justice Centre is a governmental building in Manchester, England. Completed in 2007, it houses Manchester's county court and the Manchester District Registry of the High Court, the city's family proceedings court, the distric ...

* RIBA Bar *

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

(also known as "National Assembly for Wales") * Toyota (GB) Ltd Headquarters * New Islington Footbridge * 76 Portland Place

Culture, sport and leisure

* Avenham Park Pavilion *

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety ...

Banbury Museum Banbury Museum & Gallery is a local museum in the town of Banbury, north Oxfordshire, England. The museum is located in the centre of Banbury by the Oxford Canal. Its displays present the history of the town. They include the English Civil W ...

* Brockholes Nature Reserve Visitor Centre *

Courtyard, Hereford The Courtyard Centre for the Arts is a theatre and arts venue in Hereford, England, located on Edgar Street just outside the city centre. The building was constructed between 1997 and 1998 on the site of another theatre; The New Hereford Theatre, ...

London Velopark Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, England. It is owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and it was opened to the public in March 2014. The facility was one of the pe ...

(also known as London 2012 Velodrome) * Maidstone Museum - East Wing extension *

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

National Centre for Popular Music The National Centre for Popular Music was a museum in Sheffield, England, for pop and rock music and contemporary culture generally, a £15 million project largely funded with contributions from the National Lottery, which opened on 1 Mar ...

(now known as Sheffield Hallam University students' union) *

National Maritime Museum Cornwall The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The building was designed by architect M. J. Long, following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. The ...

National Waterfront Museum The National Waterfront Museum, Swansea or NWMS ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau) is a museum in Swansea, Wales, forming part of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. It is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial ...

Newlyn Art Gallery Newlyn Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Newlyn, Cornwall, UK. Opened in 1895, designed by James Hicks of Redruth and financed by John Passmore Edwards the gallery was conceived as a home and exhibition venue for the Newlyn ...

* The Collection Lincoln *

The Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born a ...

* The MAC Belfast *

The Sage Gateshead Sage Gateshead is a concert venue and musical education centre in Gateshead on the south side of the River Tyne in North East England. Opened in 2004 and occupied by North Music Trust it is part of the Gateshead Quays development which include ...

* The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester * The Novium Museum * The Wilson Art Gallery & Museum * The Leventis Gallery

Education, health and the community

Campuses of the University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham operates from four campuses in Nottinghamshire and from two overseas campuses, one in Ningbo, China and the other in Semenyih, Malaysia. The Ningbo campus was officially opened on 23 February 2005 by the then British ...

Jubilee Campus, University of Nottingham * Corpus Christi College Auditorium *

Evelina Children's Hospital Evelina London Children's Hospital is a specialist NHS hospital in London. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and provides teaching hospital facilities for London South Bank University and King's College ...

* James Allen's Community Music School * St Thomas' Hospital re-cladding * Kentish Town Health Centre * London School of Economics, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre * City and Islington College *

Bishop Edward King Chapel Bishop Edward King Chapel is the chapel of Ripon College Cuddesdon, a Church of England theological college near Oxford, and of the Sisters of the Communities of St John Baptist and the Good Shepherd, a community of Anglican nuns. The chapel i ...

Housing and regeneration

* Clayfield Affordable Homes * Redevelopment of JCB's Heavy Products site * Timber Wharf

Public realm, artworks and structures

Halley Research Station Halley Research Station is a research facility in Antarctica on the Brunt Ice Shelf operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The base was established in 1956 to study the Earth's atmosphere. Measurements from Halley led to the discov ...

Infinity Bridge The Infinity Bridge is a public pedestrian and cycle footbridge across the River Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in northern England. The bridge is situated one kilometre downriver of Stockton town centre, between the Princess of Wales ...

* Kielder Observatory *

Millennium Bridge (London) The Millennium Bridge, officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Thames in London, England, linking Bankside with the City of London. It is owned and maintained by Brid ...

* Pylon Design Competition * The Halo, Rossendale * The Royal Parks Foundation - Drinking FountainsThe Royal Park Drinking Fountains
/ref> * BBC Listening Project * RIBA Lounge MIPIMUK 2014 * Grand Designs Live 2015

References

{{Reflist, 2 Architectural competitions Architectural design Royal Institute of British Architects