commissioning

Carillion’s Collapse. Let’s learn lessons from this failure.

Carillion’s collapse: Project Compass director Russell Curtis has called in ‘Let’s hope the lessons of Carillion’s failure will be learnt’, (AJ 17 January 2018) for “a more diverse supply chain to avoid another Carillion catastrophe, so we can face a future with a diverse, specialist and varied supply chain, which matches projects with proficiency and project scale…

Procurement threshold values from 1 January 2018

Procurement threshold values from 1 January 2018 for Public Contracts are revised. These revisions are biannual and are showing an increase in the GBP values due to fluctuations in exchange rates over the previous two years. These are the new threshold values which now apply generally in construction under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Small…

Open Call for the Venice Biennale 2018

PLEASE NOTE: the deadline for submissions has now been extended to 23 March 2018. Short illustrated articles on your experiences of architectural competitions in Europe are invited for the Venice Biennale 2018. This Open Call is part of a project that aims to improve architectural competitions and  design contests by appraising comparative performances, procedures and outputs…

Letter to Len Duvall, Chair – GLA Oversight Committee

Dear Len Duvall Re: Reporting oversight on the Garden Bridge Regarding the GLA Oversight Committee meeting of 11 October 2017 on the Garden Bridge we are writing to ask your committee to consider moving to clarify a relevant issue that is raised. This relates to how design propositions that benefit the public estate can be…

Call for ‘bottom up’ enablement by regulatory clarity

Following investigations into London’s Garden Bridge nineteen architects have written to the Chair of the GLA Oversight Committee, calling for better ‘bottom up’ enablement of public services through regulatory clarity. “There is now little motivation for design professionals to initiate and nurture projects from inception as almost invariably the original designers will be preclude as the…

Public Interest Challenge & Garden Bridge

Public Interest Challenge & Garden Bridge Oversight. Transcribed below is a letter submitted by Project Compass to the GLA Oversight Committee calling upon them to consider better regulatory policing by means of a Public Interest Challenge for framework procurements, in specified circumstances. “Dear Len Duvall, Further to the recent GLA Oversight Committee mtg. of 11…

‘Competition Culture in Europe 2013-2016’ published

Competition Culture in Europe

‘Competition Culture in Europe 2013-2016’ is a new publication resulting from a pan-European survey executed by Project Compass CIC, Architectuur Lokaal and A10 new European Architecture Cooperative.

Design Contest Portals, by country

Design Contest Portals from thirty three European countries that announce architectural design contests and competitive opportunities are now published on Project Compass and  on thefulcrum.eu . Open International contests, private contests and opportunities below OJEU thresholds and can also be found through this unique public listing.  Produced as part of the four year programme ‘Competition Culture in Europe’ and issued accompanying…

Heart of the matter: Why architects need a key role in the construction process

(This article was originally published in Planning & Building Control Today). To find an architect lamenting the erosion of the profession’s role within the construction process may elicit from many little more than crocodile tears, and to others, smack of a futile act of self-preservation when faced with challenging financial targets, shrinking capital budgets and…

Conference on Competition Culture

How can architects, especially the new generation, find out what design contests are announced in Europe? What considerations should they make to decide if they’re going to participate in an architect selection abroad? And what is the chance a winning plan will be built? Architect selections for commissions below EU thresholds are not published on…